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FATIGUE STUDY 



1 




Fic. 1 
This is ;i picture of the pin plan we use, wliich shows the 
city as divided into districts, and wliich shows the collectors 
and contributors, as marked by different coloured pins. 



FATIGUE STUDY 

The Elimination of Humanity's Greatest 
Unnecessary Waste 

A FIRST STEP IN MOTION STUDY 



BY 

FRANK Bf' GILBRETH 

» '■ 

Member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers 

LILLIAN MJ GILBRETH, Ph. D. 



"Wew lorft 

STURGIS & WALTON 

COMPANY 

1916 

All rights reserved 



I 5"? 



Copyright, 1916 
By STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY 



Set up and electrotyped. Published February. 1916. 



yff 



APR 13 1916 



OClA4276i3 

V 



k. 



PREFACE 

In the final analysis, that organization is best 
that has the best quality of workers. No or- 
ganization can continue to be of first quality 
whose workers are over-fatigued. Other things 
being equal, that country will be most happy and 
most successful whose workers have the least un- 
necessary fatigue. 

Aside from the pleasure one may obtain from 
it, it is the duty of every one to eliminate the 
causes of unnecessary fatigue, and to promote 
the dissemination of knowledge of how to recover 
most quickly from unnecessary and necessary fa- 
tigue. 

Fatigue study rests on scientific investigation 
that requires the special training of an expert, 
and laboratory methods and equipment; but 
there are elementary methods of studying and 
eliminating fatigue that are not only so simple 
that any one can understand and apply them, but 
that are also a definite stage in the preparation 
of the fatigue study expert. 



PREFACE 

It is the aim of this book to outline both these 
preliminary methods and the scientific methods 
of fatigue elimination and to put the available 
material for fatigue study into such shape that 
any one interested may make immediate, definite, 
and profitable use of it. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER. I 

A DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE OF 
FATIGUE STUDY : WHAT MUST BE DONE 

PAGE 

Fatigue Study and Waste ......... 3 

What Fatigue Is 4 

What Fatigue Study Is 7 

The Field of This Book 7 

The Relation of Fatigue Study to Measured Func- 
tional Management 9 

Relation of Fatigue Study to Motion Study ... 11 

The Glasses of Fatigue 13 

The Problems of Fatigue Study . 14 

The Methods of Fatigue Study 14 

Emphasis in Fatigue Study 15 

A Work for Every One 16 

CHAPTER II 

THE FATIGUE SURVEY : WHAT IS TO BE DONE 

What a Survey Is 18 

The General Survey and the Fatigue Survey . . 19 

The Aims of the Fatigue Survey 19 

The Time and Place of Making the Survey ... 20 

The Qualification of the Survey Maker .... 22 

What to Look For 25 

Variables That Affect Fatigue 29 

The Survey Record Sheet 30 

Survey Photographs 31 

Making the Survey Serviceable 32 

CHAPTER III 

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST FOR OVER- 
COMING FATIGUE: WHAT CAN BE DONE 
NOW 

Provision for Rest ..*.*....... 38 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chairs to Make the Rest Most Effective .... 42 

Betterment Work 47 

Results . 49 

CHAPTER IV 

HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT: A PRAC- 
TICAL ILLUSTRATION 

What It Is 54 

The Box in the Plant 55 

The Plant as a Source of Supply 55 

The Home Element 58 

Routing the Magazines 61 

The Problem of Maintenance 63 

How the Conditions Vary 67 

The Home Reading Box and Fatigue 69 

The By-Products of the Home Reading Box Move* 

ment 70 

How to Begin 75 

CHAPTER V 

PRELIMINARY FATIGUE ELIMINATION: 
WHAT CAN BE DONE NOW 

The Lighting Problem /77 

The Heating, Cooling, and Ventilating Problem . .82 

Fire Protection 84 

Safety Protection 85 

The Work Place 88 

The Work-bench or Table . 90 

The Chair or Other Fatigue-Eliminating Device . . 91 

Placing the Material Worked On 93 

The Placing of Tools and Devices 94 

The Clothing of the Worker 95 

CHAPTER VI 
THE FATIGUE MUSEUM: AN OBJECT LESSON 

What a Fatigue Museum Is 99 

The Parent Fatigue Museum 100 

What the Fatigue Museum Contains 102 

What the Museum Does not Contain 102 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Types of Chairs and Their Uses 104 

Other Fatigue Eliminating Devices 108 

How to Use the Devices 109 

Starting Your Ov^n Fatigue Museum Ill 

CHAPTER VII 

FATIGUE MEASUREMENT : HOW TO ATTACK 
THE PROBLEM SCIENTIFICALLY 

History of Fatigue Measurement ....... 114 

Fatigue, a Test of Efficient Activity 116 

The Activity llV 

Motion Study, Micromotion Study, the Cyclegraph, 

AND THE CHRONOCYCLEGRAPH MeTHOD AS MEASURES 

OF Activity 118 

Testing the Work by Motions Required 123 

Testing Workers by Motion Capabilities .... 124 
The Use of Activity Records as Data for Eliminat- 
ing Fatigue .... 124 

The Time Element 125 

The Standardization of Work and Rest .... 127 

CHAPTER VIII 

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS: HOW PRESENT PRAC- 
TICE IS DEVELOPED INTO STANDARD PRAC- 
TICE 

A Concrete Example of Making Adjustments . . . 132 

Former Method of Assembly 133 

How the New Practice Was Derived 134 

The Two Factors to Be Considered 134 

Outline of the Changes to Be Made 135 

The Solution of the Problem 135 

Final Adjustment 139 

Changes in Type of Work Demanded 140 

Change in Mental Attitude 140 

Value of This Example 140 

CHAPTER IX 

THE OUTCOME: HOW FAR HAVE WE AT- 
TAINED OUR AIM? 

The Tests of General Heai^th 142 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Test of Prolonged Activity 143 

The Test of Posture 144 

The Test of Behaviour and Implied Mental Attitude. 146 

The Test of Transference of Skill 148 

Test of " Happiness Minutes," Individual and Social 149 

CHAPTER X 
THE FUTURE: WHAT EACH ONE OF US CAN DO 

The Work of the Colleges 153 

The Work of the Manager 155 

The Work of the Worker 156 

The Work of the Public . • . 157 



I 



» 



FATIGUE STUDY 



FATIGUE STUDY 

CHAPTER I 

A DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE OF 
FATIGUE study: WHAT MUST BE DONE 

Fatigue Study and Waste. 

In "Motion Study ^' we stated: "There is 
no waste of any kind in the world that equals 
the waste from needless, ill-directed, and inef- 
fective motions/' ^ It is an aspect of wasted 
motions that we are discussing here. Wasted 
motions mean wasted effort and wasted time. 
One of the results of this waste is unnecessary 
fatigue, caused by unnecessary effort expended 
during time that must, as a result, be wasted. 
Time, a lifetime, is our principal inheritance. 
To waste any of it is to lose part of our principal 
asset. To waste time and to suffer from un- 
necessary fatigue simultaneously can be excused 

1 See " Motion Study," p. 2. 
3 



4 FATIGUE STUDY 

only by ignorance. Unnecessary fatigue is 
caused by some one's ignorance. This book aims 
to call tbe attention of the world to the relation- 
ship between fatigue and waste, with the hope 
that the knowledge of our methods of fatigue 
elimination may be useful to others. 

What Fatigue Is. 

A crowd of workers come out of the factory 
after the day's work. Some rush home; others 
walk at a leisurely pace. Some move slowly and 
with effort. Some have their heads back and a 
satisfied expression on their faces. Othets^have 
their heads bent forward, and look as though 
life were not worth while. What is the differ- 
ence between the members of this group? 
Mainly a matter of fatigue. Fatigue is the 
after-effect of work. It is the condition of the 
worker's organism after he has expended energy 
in doing something. It is a necessary by-prod- 
uct of activity. If, as is presumable, every mem- 
ber of our crowd of workers has been putting in 
a day full of activity, we might expect to see the 
same marks of fatigue on every face and figure, — 
but we do not. 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE 5 

What, then, are the reasons for the difference? 
The state of fatigue has only been systematically 
studied during the past thirty years. Even to- 
day it is not wholly understood. We do know, 
however, several things about it, that may ex- 
plain what we see in the emerging group. We 
know that fatigue is marked by a decrease in 
power to work, a decrease in pleasure taken in 
work, and a decrease in the enjoyment of the 
hours spent away from work. We know that 
exertion not only uses up temporarily the energy 
of the body, but that it also seems to generate a 
sort of poison which " slows one down '^ for the 
time being. In the third place, we know, also, 
that the effects of fatigue are more difllcult to 
overcome as the fatigue becomes greater. Care- 
ful observation and records show that a little 
fatigue is easily overcome if proper rest is sup- 
plied immediately. Twice the amount of fatigue 
requires more than twice the amount of rest. 
Four times the amount of fatigue demands much 
more than twice as much rest as the preceding 
"more than twice the amount of rest,'^ until, 
jftnally, a state of excessive fatigue requires a 
rest period that might have to be prolonged in- 



6 FATIGUE STUDY 

definitely. It is this fact that lies at the basis of 
the great unnecessary waste in accumulated fa- 
tigue. 

The trouble with these tired workers, then, is 
that their work has not been arranged in the 
least fatiguing manner nor in such a way that 
they could get the most rest and recovery in the 
least amount of idle time during the working 
hours. The ones whose heads are high and whose 
shoulders are thrown back may have been pro- 
vided in some way with sufficient rest. The ones 
whose heads are bowed probably have not had 
the recovery time that they needed. It is pos- 
sible that those who have had all the rest they 
needed have not produced as much as have the 
others. The remedy for this may not lie in short- 
ening the rest, but in improving work methods. 
The waste in work not done, or in work done with 
the wrong method, is a serious economic waste. 
The waste in unnecessary fatigue is not only an 
economic waste, it is a waste of life, and it calls 
for immediate attention from every one of us, 
whether interested in the individual, the group, 
or the economic prosperity of our country. 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE 7 

What Fatigue Study Is. 

Our fatigue study is an attack upon this un- 
necessary waste of human energy. It is a careful 
consideration of the problem of activity from the 
side of its results upon the human organism. It 
aims: 

1. To determine accurately what fatigue re- 

sults from doing various types of work. 

2. To eliminate all unnecessary fatigue. 

3. To reduce the necessary fatigue to the 

lowest amount possible. 

4. To provide all possible means for over- 

coming fatigue. 

5. To put the facts obtained from the study 

into such form that every worker can 
use them for himself to get more out of 
life. 

The Field of This Book. 

The reader who will carefully watch the tired 
crowd of workers will probably decide that he 
would like to do something about the fatigue 
problem immediately. There are various meth- 
ods by which he may attack the problem. He 
may, and must, ultimately, review the literature 



8 FATIGUE STUDY 

on fatigue. The work of Marey, of Amar, of Im- 
bert, of Offner, of Thorndike, and of numerous 
other physiologists and psychologists lies open to 
the student of the subject. He may turn im- 
mediately to Miss Josephine Goldmark's mas- 
terly volume on '' Fatigue and Efficiency." This 
will give him an insight into the application of 
fatigue elimination to the industries. He may 
decide, however, that such study must wait, and 
that he must actually do something to cut down 
the fatigue the first thing the next morning, while 
the driving force of what he has seen is still 
strong. Nothing can mean so much to what he 
is to do as the strong incentive that drives him 
to doing it, the desire to help. But he will do 
best if he is instructed and directed. He should 
plan, in order that he may do the most in the 
least amount of time, and do the big, easy, ob- 
vious things first. 

This book will outline a method of attack, and 
furnish a working practice for attacking the fa- 
tigue problem in an industrial plant. This prac- 
tice is recommended because it rests on the re- 
sults of measurement. We have here not simply 
a collection of illustrations that show what has 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE 9 

been done in eliminating fatigue in the indus- 
tries. All fatigue elimination is to be com- 
mended, but illustrations that do not embody 
well-recognized principles are questionable mod- 
els. It is easy to make external changes that 
never touch the underlying cause of evil. Worth- 
while, permanent fatigue elimination goes at the 
fundamentals of the work itself, and studies these 
in relation to the fatigue. What has been done 
is worth while when we know how it has been 
done, and why it has been done. Given these 
facts, we can determine how it may be done again 
in the same fashion and possibly even better. 
The practice that is the result of accurate meas- 
urement^ — this is the standard to be demanded. 

The Relation of Fatigue Study to Measured 
Functional Management. 

Fatigue study is founded on measurement. 
This makes it an integral part of measured func- 
tional management. This is management that 
acts in accordance with standards. These stand- 
ards are derived by actually measuring accur- 
ately what is happening. Standards contain the 
results of the measurement combined into new 



10 FATIGUE STUDY 

working methods. These standards are main- 
tained only until they can be improved, when 
the new ones are in turn measured and main- 
tained. Such accurate measurement demands 
that the problem of management be divided into 
measurable units. These units are made as 
small as possible, and constantly smaller as time 
goes on. It was the great work of Doctor Tay- 
lor to divide an operation, that is, a piece of 
work to be measured, into units for timing with a 
stop watch, and to separate rest units from work 
units. 

From its beginning. Scientific Management has 
recognizM the importance of the part played 
by fatigue. This recognition helps to obtain that 
co-operation and permanent beneficial efficiency 
that are the underlying ideas and the maintain- 
ing forces in this type of management. But fa- 
tigue study has only recently been acknowledged 
as fundamental to the most efficient management. 
Any one can attack the fatigue problem in its 
present condition in the industries successfully. 
He has simply to apply measurement. He can 
do this without regarding the investigations and 
results of others, if he chooses, but he will pro- 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE 11 

gress faster and farther if he uses results already 
at hand, and improves on " the best that has been 
known and thought in the world.^' 

Relation of Fatigue Study to Motion Study. 

Motion study has been described as the divid- 
ing of the elements of the work into the most 
elementary subdivisions possible, studying and 
measuring the variables of these fundamental 
units separately and in relation to one another, 
and from these studied, chosen units, after they 
have been derived, building up methods of least 
waste. It is through the measuring of motions 
that one comes to realize most strongly the neces- 
sity of fatigue study. 

There has come, in the past twenty-five years, 
a strong general realization that the important 
factor in doing work is the human factor, or the 
human element. Improvement in working ap- 
paratus of any type is important in its effect 
upon the human being who is to use the appa- 
ratus. The moment one begins to make man, the 
worker, the centre of activity, he appreciates that 
he has two elements to measure. One is the ac- 
tivity itself. This includes the motions, seen or 



12 FATIGUE STUDY 

unseen, made by the worker, — what is done and 
how it is done. The other is the fatigue. This 
includes the length and nature of the interval 
or rest period required for the worker to recover 
his original condition of working power. 

Any one who makes real motion study, or ana- 
lyzes motion study data, cannot fail to realize 
constantly the relationship of motion study to 
fatigue study. The fatigue is the more interest- 
ing element, in that it is the more diflSicult to 
determine exactly. When we recognize this close 
relationship between motion study and fatigue 
study, we see that we have a body of data al- 
ready collected and at our disposal. What is 
even more desirable, we have a method of meas- 
urement ready at our hand. Every observation 
of a motion may be used to give information 
about fatigue. Is this information of immedi- 
ate use to the man who is attacking his fatigue 
problem for the first time to-day? Yes, and no. 
Yes, in that it is at his disposal. No, in that he 
must determine his own particular problem be- 
fore he can start to solve it. The first step in 
this direction lies in classifying fatigue. 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE 13 

The Classes of Fatigue. 

There are two classes of fatigue : 

1. Unnecessary fatigue, which results from 
unnecessary effort, or work which does 
not need to be done at all. A typical ex- 
ample of such work is that of the brick- 
layer, who furnished one of the first sub- 
jects for motion study. Any one who has 
watched a bricklayer lift all of his body 
above the waist, together with the bricks 
and mortar from the level of his feet to 
the top of a wall, cannot fail to realize 
that bricklaying requires a great amount 
of energy as well as skill. Yet by far 
the most of the energy expended in the 
method of laying bricks, that had existed 
for centuries, was entirely unnecessary.^ 

2. Necessary fatigue, which results from 
work that must be done. The new 
method, which enabled this same brick- 
layer to lay three hundred and fifty bricks 
per hour, where he had laid one hundred 
and twenty bricks per hour before, did 

1 See " Bricklaying System," chapter xiv. Myron 
C. Clark Go., Chicago. 



14 FATIGUE STUDY 

not eliminate, and did not expect to elimi- 
nate all of the fatigue accumulated in the 
working day. The bricklayer at the end 
of the day, by reason of motion study de- 
vices, laid more brick, but was neverthe- 
less much less tired. Experimental work 
in his case was carried to a high degree 
of perfection, because he was recognized 
as a splendid type of eflflcient brawn. 

The Problems of Fatigue Study. 

The problems of fatigue study are, then, four, 
which may be stated in very simple terms : 

1. To determine what fatigue is unnecessary. 

2. To determine what fatigue is necessary. 

3. To eliminate all unnecessary fatigue pos- 
sible. 

4. To distribute the necessary fatigue prop- 
erly, and to provide the best possible 
means for speedy and complete recovery. 

The Methods of Fatigue Study. 

The methods used must rest on a scientific 
basis. These methods are the same for the ex- 
pert and for the man making his first attack on 
the problem. They are as follows : 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE 15 

!• Eecord present practice, make an accu- 
rate and complete account in writing of 
what is actually being done. 

2. Decide in what sequence things are to be 
measured, and put them in such shape 
that they can be measured. 

3. Apply accurate measurement. 

4. Determine standards synthetically from 
the measurement, and make such changes 
in practice as will make it conform to 
the standard. 

5. Compare the new standard practice with 
the old practice. Determine exactly what 
improvements have been made, in order 
to be able to predict the line along which 
new improvements must lie. 

This is the standard method of attack of meas- 
ured functional management. It can be the 
more successfully applied to fatigue study in that 
the results can be checked at every point by the 
results of motion study, which bear a constant 
relation to them. 

Emphasis in Fatigue Study, 

Any such study as this demands an emphasis 
upon accuracy. The man making the study must 



16 FATIGUE STUDY 

have a strong desire for finding and writing down 
the facts. He must have willingness to submit 
every aspect of the problem he is studying to the 
test of accurate measurement. Along with this 
desire for facts must go a realization of how the 
facts are to be used. Fatigue study is a con- 
structive study. It builds up. It uses such 
terms as " elimination/^ but its fundamental aim 
is conservation, and this conservation includes 
adding to those things which make life worth 
while. The desire to act as a force for better- 
ment must be the incentive that makes the man 
doing fatigue study ready to record and face the 
actual facts. 

A Work for Every One. 

Recording facts is difficult work, but there is 
no one who cannot do some of it. It is the duty 
of every man to face the facts with which he 
works and to record them. You have come from 
the crowd of tired workers with an incentive to 
do this. Here is the method by which it may be 
done. 



DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE 17 

Summary. 

Fatigue study is related to motion study in 
that both are branches of waste elimination. Fa- 
tigue study classifies fatigue, and outlines meth- 
ods by which unnecessary fatigue may be elimi- 
nated and rest from necessary fatigue may be 
provided. 



CHAPTER II 

THE FATIGUE SURVEY: WHAT IS TO BE DONE 

What a Survey Is. 

A survey is an attempt to record existing con- 
ditions. It gives : 

1. A general view. 

2. A more particular or intensive study of 
the various parts of the whole and their 
relation to one another. 

It may include recommendations for improve- 
ment, but its primary purpose is to record what 
actually exists. 

The survey is a systematic study of existing 
conditions. Those making it have always a well- 
defined plan in mind. It is necessary, in order 
to maintain a proper balance for the completed 
survey, to give a properly proportioned represen- 
tation of what happens, with no element omitted 
or over-emphasized. 

18 



FATIGUE SURVEY 19 

The General Survey and the Fatigue Survey. 

The fatigue survey should be a department of 
the general survey. A description of the appar- 
ent causes of fatigue, or of the devices present 
that eliminate fatigue, can mean little without 
the accompanying description of the worker, the 
conditions of the work and the work itself. The 
fatigue survey might be made without a general 
survey. From the results, fatigue might be 
eliminated, or better means for overcoming fa- 
tigue provided, but there would be no assurance 
that the records applied would be efficient, or 
do lasting good, if the causes of fatigue were not 
understood. The causes could not be under- 
stood without the general survey. The fatigue 
element receives more emphasis than any other 
element of the general survey. We look for fa- 
tigue first, last, and all the time, but we record 
with it all the attending circumstances that we 
can observe or discover. 

The Aims of the Fatigue Survey. 
The fatigue survey aims : 

1. To present an accurate picture of exist- 
ing conditions from the fatigue stand- 
point. 



20 FATIGUE STUDY 

2. To enable all interested in fatigue elimi- 
nation to visualize the problem thor- 
oughly. 

3. To divide the problem of fatigue elimina- 
tion into such working units that it may 
be possible to attack the problem success- 
fully from the start. 

4. To arouse the interest of every member of 
the organization in fatigue and its elimi- 
nation. 

5. To show the relation between fatigue and 
activity. 

6. To teach every member of the organiza- 
tion to conserve his working powers. 

The Time and Place of Making the Survey. 

The survey should be made as soon as plans for 
making it are completed^ and before any changes 
in the actual practice are made. If there is any 
idea of changing the type of management, it may 
well be made even before such a change is thor- 
oughly outlined. It is the first step to be taken 
by any organization which is thinking of intro- 
ducing the scientific type of management. The 
entire " plant ^' should be surveyed. The work 



FATIGUE SURVEY 21 

should start where there is the most fatigue, and 
where the greatest amount of good can be done 
immediately. This, for several reasons ; such as : 

1. The largest amount of waste can thus be 
eliminated. 

2. The co-operation of the workers will be 
most quickly gained. This will be true 
not only of the workers actually studied, 
but of all of the workers in the organiza- 
tion. They will appreciate the attitude 
of the new management, and will be glad 
to help if they can see the actual benefit 
from the start. 

3. The survey maker will become encouraged 
as he sees his data successfully used. 

4. The survey, if made by an amateur, will 
help him when he attacks more difficult 
problems. 

If the survey maker is an amateur, he had best 
begin where working conditions most demand 
betterment. It is simpler to record working con- 
ditions than to describe the worker or the method 
by which the work is done. A really adequate 
record of a worker requires a knowledge of 
physiology and psychology. An adequate record 



22 FATIGUE STUDY 

of method requires an expert knowledge of mo- 
tion study. A preliminary record of fatigue of 
all sorts may be made by an amateur. He had 
best, however, get his practice in recording work- 
ing conditions. Moreover, it will be best to ob- 
serve a worker who is known to be co-operative 
at the start. The co-operation of the worker is 
the most important element in getting accurate 
records. Such workers will also help from the 
start to suggest or invent devices for eliminating 
fatigue, if they are started thinking along these 
lines. Later, one can handle the non-co-opera- 
tive as one becomes more practised, and there is 
always the likelihood that, by the time one gets 
to these at first non-co-operative workers, their 
attitude -mil have been changed by the good re- 
sults and the general sympathy towards the fa- 
tigue survey. 

The Qualification of the Survey Maker. 

The survey maker must be an accurate ob- 
server. He must be able to see what the condi- 
tions really are, and to describe and record what 
he sees in simple, clear language that will enable 
others to understand what he says. The survey 



FATIGUE SURVEY 23 

may be made by any one of several types of sur- 
vey maker : 

1. The owner of the plant. He will have the 
most vital interest in the resulting fa- 
tigue elimination. No matter who else 
makes a survey, the owner should ex- 
amine it closely, or should make one for 
himself. We have found that, if the 
owner can be persuaded to take one day 
of his time to make even a most rapid and 
superficial fatigue survey of his plant, the 
result is always of enormous benefit to 
the work; but, while his interest may be 
enlisted with a walk through his plant, 
his zeal will not be obtained until he has 
actually sat in the various seats and 
chairs, and actually, personally, tried out 
the various work places. 

2. The survey may be made by some other 
member of the organization, who is an 
amateur at the work. The benefits of 
having a survey maker who is a member 
of the organization is that he "under- 
stands the peculiar and local conditions '' 
thoroughly, and that those who are ob- 



FATIGUE STUDY 

served may therefore have more con- 
fidence in his work and perhaps may be 
less apt to resent being observed. The 
disadvantages are that he will be so well 
acquainted with and accustomed to see- 
ing the conditions that he will not be apt 
to note many apparently unimportant de- 
tails. These may really be important, 
when one comes to make changes. 
The survey may be made by an amateur 
not a member of the organization. The 
advantage of this is that the observer will 
be disinterested. The disadvantages are 
the usual disadvantages of lack of train- 
ing. There may, also, be some delay in 
the observed worker's co-operating with 
the observer. This is not apt to occur if 
the survey maker is properly instructed 
before he begins his work. 
The survey may be made by an expert. 
It makes little difference, in this case, 
whether the expert is, or is not, a mem- 
ber of the organization. In actual prac- 
tice he seldom is a member of the or- 
ganization. 



FATIGUE SURVEY 25 

There is much saving in time in having an ex- 
pert survey maker, who will be, in the indus- 
tries, preferably a motion study expert. From 
extensive practice he will be able to see possible 
improvements at the same time that he sees ex- 
isting conditions. However, he must not let his 
plans for improvement affect the exactness of his 
records of the present. On the contrary, these 
plans will insure that he makes his records of 
the present detailed and accurate, in order that 
the progress may be apparent. 

Whatever may be the preparation of the sur- 
vey maker, his chief qualification should be a 
keen interest and enthusiasm for this work. If 
a man really wants to eliminate fatigue, and is 
willing to learn how to do it, he can become a 
survey maker. 

What to Look For. 

There are three chief groups of things to look 
for: 

1. The characteristics of the worker, or, as 
we have called them, ^^ variables of the 
worker.'' 

2. The characteristics of the working con- 



26 FATIGUE STUDY 

ditions, — " the variables of the surround- 
ings, equipments, and tools." 
3. The characteristics of the methods of 
work ; that is, " the variables of the mo- 
tions/' ^ 
First, in describing the worker, there are sev- 
eral possible methods of obtaining valuable in- 
formation. One is by observing him. A second 
is by talking with him. Before using either of 
these, it is necessary to see what records of him 
are already in the hands of the management. 
There will probably be some information in the 
employment bureau, if an employment bureau ex- 
ists; if not, the man who hired him may have 
some data concerning him. Usually this will 
save the worker's time in answering questions. 
It is well to know as much as possible about the 
worker's life history and home conditions, — this 
especially that one may understand whether he 
goes to work refreshed or tired in the morning. 
The procedure may be as follows : 
1. Record the man's name, age, birthplace, 
preparation, experience, and fitness. 
1 See " Motion Study," pages 6 and 7. 



FATIGUE SURVEY 27 

These last will all be a help in determin- 
ing the percentage of fatigue. 

2. Record the man's physical character- 
istics, as far as can be observed ; such as, 
size, strength, skill, strong points, and 
weak points. 

3. Record, as closely as possible, the man's 
behaviour, as indicating his mental con- 
dition. To be specific, note whether he 
seems interested in the work. Note his 
habits of doing the work, — whether he 
does the work the same way every time, 
or whether he varies in his methods. 
Note his degree of ability to learn quickly. 
Note his power of concentrating atten- 
tion. Note his degree of contentment 
with the work. 

The degree of detail with which this notation 
may be made by an amateur doing the work de- 
pends largely upon his training in psychology. 
Second, in recording working conditions : 
1. Record those things that affect all work- 
ers in the group. These are the length of 
working day, condition of lighting, heat- 



28 FATIGUE STUDY 

ing, cooling, and ventilating; fire protec- 
tion; safety protection as it affects all, — 
this to include protection from dust, lint, 
or any substance which might affect 
health. 

2. Record the conditions that affect the in- 
dividual worker: — places of the work; 
the work bench or table or other device 
for holding the work ; the chair, foot rails 
or rests, or other device for affording rest 
to the body or some part of the body ; the 
material worked on and its placing; the 
tools or other devices by which the work 
is done; the clothing of the worker. 

3. Record the results of the work: — the 
average amount of output; the hours of 
the working day when most fatigue seems 
to exist. Record which conditions ob- 
served are the result of work having been 
done by the management, and which are 
the result of work having been done by 
the individual worker. 

If a general appearance of fatigue seems to oc- 
cur at any time, make special notes of all attend- 
ing conditions of every kind. Note anything 



FATIGUE SURVEY 29 

that is particularly good or particularly bad. 
Third, little can be done at this stage by the 
amateur survey maker in recording the variables 
of the methods, and in making motion analysis 
charts. He may, however, make notes of meth- 
ods that seem to him unusual or efficient. For 
example, if he observes two workers who seem 
physically much the same, and who have prac- 
tically indentical surroundings, and finds that 
one of these accomplishes more than the other, 
or is less fatigued, the difference is likely to lie 
in the motions or the methods used. These 
should be carefully noted. Such data as these 
will prove of value in the intensive studies of 
motions to be undertaken later. 

Variables that Affect Fatigue. 

We included in " Motion Study," ^ a list of 
forty-two variables that affect motions. The list 
we use consists of one hundred and nineteen. 
We feel that our list is by no means complete. 
It is necessary only to note here that every pos- 
sible change in the work, the worker, or the 
method has its effect upon the fatigue. This 

1 D. Van Nostrand Co., 25 Park Place, New York Cltj. 



so FATIGUE STUDY 

need not act as a deterrent from making changes. 
It need only act as a warning that no change 
made without a thorough consideration of every 
element of the problem can be of permanent 
value. 

The Survey Record Sheet. 

The survey maker will do well to list all of the 
things, which he intends to look for, upon one 
sheet, which he may use as a tentative record 
sheet. Such a sheet will prove itself an admir- 
able record of how far advanced the organization 
is in fatigue elimination. The survey maker in 
any particular plant may modify it to suit in- 
dividual conditions. 

The making of such a record sheet is most stim- 
ulating to the survey maker. He should make a 
collection of all the different survey sheets ob- 
tainable, even though used in the social or edu- 
cational fields. He should be required to make 
at least a tentative sheet of his own. Through 
his attempts to do this, he will come, as in al- 
most no other way, to a realization of the impor- 
tance of the problem that is before him. 



FATIGUE SURVEY SI 

Survey Photographs. 

A photograph is one of the most satisfactory 
survey records. It is not always easy to get such 
a photograph. In the first place the survey 
maker is not sure what should be photographed. 
In the second place the worker is not always 
eager that he or his work place should be photo- 
graphed. This is even more true of the manage- 
ment than of the men. Some managers are not 
willing to allow their work places to be photo- 
graphed, when they realize that such photographs 
will live as " before and after '^ records. Where 
photographs can be taken, they are the ideal 
records, in that they are accurate, detailed, un- 
prejudiced, easily understood, easily preserved, 
and constantly available. We have found the 
photograph the most valuable of records, and 
have used it continuously since 1892. On every 
side we find that scientists are more and more 
realizing the importance of the photograph 
record. A trained photographer often has the 
desirable qualities to become an admirable sur- 
vey maker. The motion picture film makes it 
possible to record activity as well as rest. 



32 FATIGUE STUDY 

Making the Survey Serviceable. 

Such photographs form an important element 
in making the survey serviceable. The survey is 
an admirable record to use after improvements 
have been made, to show exactly what the trend 
of progress has been. It is, however, most im- 
portant, as furnishing the working data from 
which the actual improvements are made imme- 
diately. To be serviceable, then, the survey 
must do certain things : 

1. It must make it possible for any one 
studying it actually to realize existing 
conditions. It is apparent what a help 
the photographs are in thus visualizing 
the problem. 

2. It must emphasize those conditions that 
require immediate and great improve- 
ment. These can be shown most plainly 
by photographs, but it must be remem- 
bered that a photograph without a proper 
written explanation often means but a 
small portion of what it should to a man 
who has not himself seen the conditions. 

3. It must be in such form that it can be 



FATIGUE SURVEY 33 

easily followed or studied. This will be 
assured if the plan has Tbeen properly 
made, and if the plan outlined has been 
consistently followed. 
The observations should be grouped. The 
groups should be put under appropriate headings. 
The order should be excellent. It will help 
greatly if partial and final summaries are in- 
cluded. 

The amateur will do best to put all of his 
recommendations for changes at the close of the 
survey. Such recommendations should certainly 
be included. The survey maker should note the 
improvements that occur to him while making 
the survey. This he may do on the regular sur- 
vey blank, but when writing up the survey, he 
should put his suggested improvements in a sepa- 
rate place, for the following reasons : His sug- 
gestions may be good, but may be only a few of 
possible suggestions. Beading them with the 
survey may prevent the reader from thinking out 
suggestions of his own. Again, the suggestions, 
while good, may be obvious, in which case the 
reader might consider the entire survey a record 
of obvious facts, which, therefore, is of little 



M FATIGUE STUDY 

value; in which case, while it is well to record 
them, it is seldom advisable to include them in 
the body of the survey. The reader may lose in- 
terest because of the suggestions, and may fail 
to realize the value of the record itself. 

Another means of making the survey service- 
able is to pay strict attention to the style. This 
should be the extreme of simplicity and clearness. 
Use short, familiar, and necessary words. Use 
short sentences requiring no punctuation except 
the period. In fact, wherever possible, use a 
printed form, and write in the fewest possible 
words that can include a simple, definite, and 
complete description. Wherever possible, make 
the survey so interesting that it will hold the 
attention without effort. This has been done, 
and can always be done. Photographs, espe- 
cially stereoscopic photographs, are of great as- 
sistance; so are charts, or graphs, illustrating 
the results of the observation; and tables that 
will show facts, recapitulations, and tendencies, 
at a glance. 

The data of the survey may be written up by 
the survey maker, if he is clever at such work ; if 
he is not, it had better be written up by some one 



FATIGUE SURVEY 35 

to whom he explains it, and who is naturally a 
clever writer. 

The survey in proper form can be used as a 
force to arouse interest in fatigue elimination 
throughout the entire organization. It must be 
put in the most attractive form possible. As an 
illustration of the possibilities in making dry ma- 
terial interesting, study the farmers^ bulletins 
used by the national government and various 
State governments, especially the bulletins of 
Kansas and Wisconsin. 

It is a courageous organization that would con- 
sent to making its original fatigue survey public 
However, the survey should certainly be in the 
hands of every member of the organization who 
desires to see it. It will be recognized that the 
survey is the starting point for making improve- 
ments in the elimination of unnecessary fatigue. 
Too little is often done to take the workers into 
the confidence of the management. The fatigue 
survey might well act as a starting point in this 
direction; therefore, if not the entire survey, it 
is certain the examples worthy to be copied 
should be freely circulated. The efficiently, spe- 
cially -clothed worker, the excellent arrangement 



36 



FATIGUE STUDY 



of tools, the best arranged work place, — photo- 
graphs and descriptions of these might be posted 
to excellent advantage. 

After all, the real aim of the survey is to be 
serviceable. It will be most serviceable when it 
is used by the greatest number of individuals, and 
it will be chiefly serviceable in that it stimulates 
them to do something definite to improve condi- 
tions. It must suggest what is to be done, and 
where it is to be done. As to when the improve- 
ments are to be made, there are certain things 
that can be done immediately, — as soon as ex- 
isting conditions are understood. Our next task 
is to show what these are, in order that the stimu- 
lated organization may expend its energy for the 
greatest amount of permanent good to the great- 
est number. 



Summary. 

The fatigue survey is a record of present con- 
ditions and practice, that endeavours to show 
particularly and in detail where and when fa- 
tigue exists. This record contains a description 
of all the attending circumstances. It is to be 
in such form that it may be easily read and un- 



FATIGUE SURVEY 87 

derstood. By studying it, any one interested 
may learn where fatigue exists, and may receive 
suggestions as to how it may be prevented, elimi- 
nated, or remedied. 



CHAPTER III 

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST FOR OVER- 
COMING FATIGUE 

Provision for Rest. 

The first necessity in our fight against fatigue 
is to eliminate the causes of unnecessary fatigue. 
The second is to provide for proper rest to over- 
come fatigue, whether necessary or unnecessary. 

If the worker goes home too tired each night, 
the first method of remedying this condition is to 
provide rest periods during the working day — to 
set aside time in which he may recover his proper 
and normal working strength. One method by 
which this may be sometimes done is by short- 
ening the working day. This permits the worker 
to get into better condition either before work, 
after work, during a lengthened noon hour, or 
during the "second breakfast'' and "tea re- 
cess'' of many European organizations. The 
supposed advantage of this plan is that it gives 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 39 

little or no jolt to the working process. To this 
we might answer, as circumstances vary, that it 
does give a jolt, because speed must be increased 
in order that output should be maintained; or 
we might say that the jolt is really needed. The 
disadvantage, in some cases, of shortening the 
working hours is the effect upon the entire in- 
dustry in the vicinity. This is a feature to be 
considered, for in the long run maximum pros- 
perity is dependent upon largest outputs. 
There can be no doubt that in most cases it is 
advisable and profitable to shorten working 
hours, but how and when this is to be done is a 
serious problem. In our own office, our stenog- 
raphers work every other Saturday till 1 :00 p.m. 
only, and the alternating Saturday they do not 
work at all ; that is to say, we give them a holi- 
day of Saturday afternoon and Sunday every 
other week, and all Saturday and Sunday the 
other weeks, besides their regular two- weeks va- 
cation in summer. We find that we get more and 
better work as a result. No plant, operating un- 
der the measured type of management, that we 
know of, has ever regretted shortening its work- 
ing hours. It may be that the working hours 



40 FATIGUE STUDY 

formerly existing were so long that shortening 
the hours was the only immediate adequate 
remedy. The danger in shortening hours is that, 
if the whole problem is not thoroughly studied, 
the worker may not be sure of the same or a 
larger wage for work which he is able to do in 
the shorter time. Fatigue elimination is funda- 
mentally the duty of the management. The 
worker cannot afford to pay for the fatigue elimi- 
nation, directly or indirectly. Lrct the short 
hours be planned for and assured, but make sure 
before introducing them that everything is in 
such condition that wages can be maintained or 
raised. This is a matter requiring study of ac- 
tual records and not "guess,'^ "personal opin- 
ion,'^ or " judgment.'' 

There are other methods of providing for fa- 
tigue elimination or recovery, that do not involve 
so many elements. Such a method is providing 
rest periods during the working day. This is a 
method that may be used immediately. To 
whom are these rest periods to be given, then? 
Ultimately, of course, to every member of the 
organization whose work is of a nature that re- 
quires a fixed rest period. The work should, 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 41 

preferably, be so arranged that every worker, be 
he in plant or in management, would achieve 
larger outputs by having definite and properly 
located rest periods. It has been proved in most 
work that more output can be achieved by ap- 
plying one's self steadily for short periods, and 
then resting, than by applying one's self less 
steadily and having no rest periods. This, of 
course, applies only to work which in itself pro- 
vides no rest periods. At the beginning of the 
fatigue eliminating campaign, provide rest peri- 
ods for those who seem to need them most. 
There are two, off-hand, quick methods of de- 
termining which workers these are. One is the 
appearance of the workers at various times of 
the day, and at the end of the day. The other is 
the amount of output and the rate that output is 
turned out by the worker during the day and 
during the various parts of the day. In some 
organizations, it has been the standard practice 
to take no chances when the worker looks or feels 
tired. They provide rest periods immediately, 
long enough to allow him to recover and go back 
to the work with zest. This is, of course, the im- 
mediate remedy. ^' Provide the rest period first. 



42 FATIGUE STUDY 

Discuss its efficiency later.'' This first-aid plan 
has worked splendidly for a long time among 
women workers in such industries as the dry- 
goods trades. The typical welfare work may be 
unscientific from the standpoint of those fa- 
miliar with highly organized methods, but it has 
sensed the trouble keenly and quickly, and pro- 
vided at least a temporary remedy without de- 
lay. " Time to rest when one needs it.'' This is 
the first slogan of the campaign for eliminating 
the evils of overfatigue. 

Chairs to Make the Rest Most Effective. 

The merchants have again been the pioneers 
here, in realizing that reclining chairs or couches 
furnish the most effective rest. It is not neces- 
sary here to discuss the physiological effects re- 
sulting from a change of blood pressure. It 
should be noted that even a few minutes in a re- 
clining position provides such rest as could not 
be gained in a much longer time if seated upright 
in the most comfortable of chairs. If attending 
conditions allow of reclining chairs or couches, 
for at least the exceptional and emergency cases, 
these should immediately be provided. It surely 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 43 

does take real courage for the management of an 
organization of strong and strenuous men to in- 
stall reclining chairs, couches, and high foot-rests 
for rest periods ; but fame awaits the one in this 
field, who can make the practice general. The 
brain worker of all types has long realized the 
benefits of the occasional use of the reclining 
chair. Flat couches without even the smallest 
of pillows are a part of the regular working 
equipment of some of our greatest brain workers. 
It is considered no disgrace, nor is it worthy of 
note, if a tired soldier fiings himself flat upon 
the ground to rest. It attracts no attention for 
an exhausted worker to go to sleep on a hard 
wooden bench at noontime. But to put a couch 
in some quiet spot, or even a chair with extra- 
high, large, flat, arm rests, where the same type of 
rest might be enjoyed most effectively, this seems 
radical, and " might make the men think we had 
gone crazy." It might be objected that the 
worker should not allow himself to become so 
fatigued that this type of rest is necessary. The 
answer is, — if rest in this position will over- 
come what is almost complete exhaustion, what 
increases in national efficiency and prosperity 



44 FATIGUE STUDY 

may it not cause in overcoming quickly less vio- 
lent stages of fatigue? 

Next to the couch or reclining chair, in efll- 
ciency, is the arm-chair. There are '' arm- 
chairs," and chairs with real arms specially fitted 
to the individual worker. These will be even 
more efficient if provided with a foot-rest. We 
have actually installed such arm-chairs out in 
the works with very good results. We have had 
many a case where even the workers laughed 
loudly when the special, unusual chairs were 
brought in. They began to use them more out of 
friendliness towards us than out of any belief in 
the special usefulness of these peculiar chairs. 
However, at the end of a few days of actual use, 
they were able to handle their work in greater 
quantities and with less fatigue. " It's a joke 
to work like that,'' one said. Some of the work- 
ers claimed that they did not need such a chair, 
but, after it became the fashion to use it, each 
one seemed glad enough for the better rest pro- 
vided. 

From this type of chair down to the smallest 
possible seat, the gradation is gradual and con- 
stant. In certain types of work, like selling in 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 45 

a drygoods store, the space is sometimes so nar- 
row that the only type of chair practicable, un- 
der present conditions, is the small folding seat 
that can slip under the shelves or fold up against 
them when the girl is serving a customer. Such 
also is the type of chair that folds up under or 
next to a machine, which the operator is tend- 
ing, and which can be pulled out during the peri- 
ods when the machines need no tending, and the 
operator is simply inspecting or waiting for the 
next tending period. Every one realizes the ad- 
vantage, as a resting device, of anything upon 
which one can occasionally sit. The two-inch, 
iron arm of a seat on a railroad train, the tiny 
seat that folds into a walking stick or umbrella, 
that the enthusiast at the races takes with him, — ■ 
these are typical examples of seats that seem al- 
most ridiculous, yet that have an enormous effect 
upon the amount of fatigue accumulated in a few 
hours, or in a day. " A chair to rest in ; '^ this 
is the second slogan. If a chair is not procurable, 
then some sort of a seat, even a packing box with 
no back, even a post to lean against, or a rail to 
lean upon, — anything to shift the pressure 
is better than nothing. Far better a seat with no 



46 FATIGUE STUDY 

back, immediately, than the best type of chair in 
the indefinite future. Get some sort of seat for 
the worker to-day, and begin planning for the 
efficient chair at the first day possible. 

The final word on chairs in this preliminary 
work is that some sort of a chair should be pro- 
vided for every member of the organization. 
There is a wide-spread belief that one chair for 
every two or three or more workers is sufficient ; 
that '' they can change off using it." The argu- 
ment was something like this : " No one needs 
to sit more than one-third of the time, therefore 
one chair to each three workers is enough,'^ etc. 
The chief fallacy is the implied idea that the 
rest periods of the workers can be so arranged 
that the chairs can be in constant use, and that 
each worker will have a chair at his or her dis- 
posal at the proper time. Now in theory, of 
course, this is not an impossible arrangement. 
It might have to be made if chairs and seats 
cost many dollars apiece, and it probably would 
be done then, if there was a proper realization 
of the importance of overcoming fatigue. But 
when chairs are as cheap and plentiful as they 
are now, there is no excuse for thinking of such 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 47 

a condition. In practice, where there are not 
enough chairs for every one, at certain times of 
the day the chairs are empty, as every one is 
busy. At other times, when work is duller, the 
chairs are all used, and many workers are try- 
ing to rest as best they can, standing. These 
conditions can be noted in any drygoods store, 
in any shop or factory where there is an inade- 
quate supply of chairs. ^^A seat for each and 
every worker whether he needs it or not;'' this 
is the third slogan. 

Betterment Work. 

The third division of provision for rest falls 
under the general heading of betterment work, 
or what is popularly called "welfare work.'' 
The term " betterment work " is used by those 
who are interested in measured management in- 
stead of "welfare work," to emphasize a dis- 
tinction in thought. Some welfare work implies 
that it is the gift of the manager to the workers. 
Betterment work is the same type of work, done 
with the distinct understanding that what is 
done is for the good and profit of the organiza- 
tion. It is the due of every member of the or- 



48 FATIGUE STUDY 

ganization to have the best resting condition pos- 
sible. Making these conditions better is better- 
ment work. There is no intention to criticize 
welfare work. Most welfare work is betterment 
work. Some workers, however, object to wel- 
fare work as implying "charity." Therefore, 
we say betterment work. It is the worker's due 
that he gets. Such work comprises establishing 
rest rooms, lunch rooms, entertainments — any- 
thing that can make the resting time more attrac- 
tive and profitable. It may also imply the serv- 
ice of a betterment worker or a staff of such 
workers ; or it may be that the organization itself 
takes up the work co-operatively, with no out- 
sider to direct it. Doubtless some such activity 
already exists. If so, it would be the duty of 
the fatigue eliminators to recognize it and en- 
courage it. 

The fourth provision for rest is really a part 
of betterment work. It must be described at 
some length. This is the Home Reading Box 
Movement, which furnishes a definite means for 
making rest periods, both at work and at home, 
attractive and profitable. Before turning to a 
description of this, we may estimate the effect 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 49 

upon the worker of the preliminary work so far 
done. 

Results. 

The results of the preliminary work we have 
done are as follows : 

1. The interest in fatigue becomes more 
vital. We have aroused more interest in 
fatigue elimination, and have made it 
general. With the establishment of 
properly distributed rest periods, chairs, 
seats, etc., the recovery process becomes 
interesting. As he knows how resting 
improves his working conditions, the 
worker becomes more warmly interested 
in the fatigue itself. It is a very differ- 
ent thing to talk about the evils of fa- 
tigue, or even to see the advantages of 
proper rest exhibited in object lessons, 
than it is to get proper rest in a specially 
designed chair for the first time in one's 
working life. Fatigue, which was an 
enemy, becomes now not only my enemy, 
but our enemy — mine, because I recog- 
nize it has affected me; ours^ because we 



50 FATIGUE STUDY 

are fighting it together for our best in- 
terests, severally and collectively. 
2. The interest in fatigue becomes more 
intelligent. Many workers, especially 
women, feel that it is to be expected that 
they will get exceedingly tired by night; 
that one cannot expect to do so much 
late in the day as early in the day; that 
stopping to rest is cutting down one's 
output, thus cheating one's self, if one is 
a piece rate worker, or cheating the man- 
agement, if one is a day rate worker. 
The worker now comes to realize that 
he hurts the management and himself, 
when he gets too tired. " It is your duty 
to rest when you need it ; " that is the 
fourth slogan. It must be remembered 
also that the rest periods provide time 
for clearer and more intelligent thinking. 
It is impossible to come to any valid con- 
clusion when one is working at top speed 
part of the day, and in a state of exhaus- 
tion the rest of the time. We have now 
an opportunity to think, and brains 
rested enough with which to think. 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 51 

3. The output increases. Usually, in prac- 
tice, the output increases as a result of 
the fatigue-recovery periods. Increased 
outputs encourage both management and 
worker. They must, however, be in- 
spected and controlled. Some one with 
the proper training must be in charge, 
that excessive fatigue may not be ac- 
cumulated, and the rest periods lose their 
purpose. With the increase in output 
must come added compensation in wage». 
If this is provided, the fatigue eliminat- 
ing campaign will not be regarded as a 
new scheme for driving the worker. 
Better for the good of the management 
and the men to limit the output to its 
usual amount during this period, until 
the workers see that too much fatigue to- 
day interferes with the standard quan- 
tity of output to-morrow, than to attempt 
to allow increased output without in- 
creased pay. The world can better af- 
ford to lose the extra product, than the 
management to appear even for a moment 
to be trying to overwork the men. 



52 FATIGUE STUDY 

4. The spirit of co-operation grows. The 
worker realizes instinctively, if the sur- 
vey has been properly made, and if this 
preliminary work has been properly 
done, that the aim of fatigue study is the 
good of all concerned. There is a psy- 
chological element to this. It might be 
possible to question the motive of in- 
stalling fatigue eliminating devices. 
There is no question as to the motive in in- 
stalling the resting devices and rest peri- 
ods. The rest periods allow time for de- 
velopment of the social spirit. "To 
know all is to understand all,^^ a wise 
Frenchman has said. " I like every one 
whom I know,^' is the thought of another 
wise man. " Let's go at the fatigue sur- 
vey all together,'' is the fifth slogan. 
The Home Reading Box Movement is, 
perhaps, the channel where this spirit of 
co-operation expresses itself most freely- 
Summary. 

Preliminary provision for rest for overcoming 
fatigue consists of establishing rest periods, pro- 



PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS FOR REST 53 

viding chairs or other devices in which one may 
rest, and establishing or encouraging betterment 
work. These result in a more vital and intelli- 
gent interest in fatigue, and a spirit of co-opera- 
tion. This work is embodied in five slogans. 
These are as follows : " Time to rest when one 
needs it ; " ^^ A seat to rest in ; '' "A seat for 
each and every worker whether he needs it or 
not ; '' '' It is your duty to rest when you need it/^ 
and " Let's go at the fatigue survey all together.'^ 



CHAPTER IV 

THE HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 

What It Is. 

The Home Reading Box Movement is a sys- 
tern of placing interesting, educational, and val- 
uable reading matter at the disposal of the work- 
ers in an industrial organization. It consists of 

1. A box in the plant in which the reading 
matter can be placed and kept until taken 
out by the workers. 

2. Boxes in the homes of members of the 
organization or of the community inter- 
ested, where reading matter intended for 
the plant can be kept until it is collected. 

3. A system by which the reading matter 
gathered in the homes is taken to the 
plant reading box, is taken from the plant 
box to the homes of the workers, and, in 
turn, either returned to the plant or 
passed on to other homes w^hich would 
have pleasure or profit from it. 

54 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 55 

The Box in the Plant. 

The box in the plant is located at a place most 
convenient for the workers. Its size depends 
upon the size of the collections. It should be 
large enough to hold two collections of papers, 
magazines, and books. It should be located 
where the workers can get to it without loss of 
time and with fewest motions. The best place is 
usually near the path of exit after the day's work. 
It will simplify the routing of the reading matter, 
if the box is put under a window next to the 
street, so that magazines can be put in by any 
one driving or walking by, without coming in 
and thereby possibly disturbing the operation of 
the plant. The box is made a regular part of 
the plant equipment by receiving a station num- 
ber like every other "station'' on the mes- 
senger's route. The first box installed happened 
to be No. 34. All boxes since have received this 
number, and the same number becomes the home 
reading box symbol, thus, — "34." 

The Plant as a Source of Supply. 

It is invariably a surprise to the management, 
as well as the workers, to find how much reading 



56 FATIGUE STUDY 

matter for the home reading box is available in 
the plant itself. 

Every business man receives quantities of 
catalogs and other business and technical litera- 
ture, and sample copies of publications, sent in 
the effort to get new subscribers. These are 
glanced at by the man receiving them, and then 
and there usually thrown into the waste-basket 
A catalog is the best literary effort of the con- 
cern it represents, and usually contains valuable 
instruction. Now if the mail sorter or the pur- 
chasing department see no immediate need of 
the things in the catalog, it usually finds its 
way quickly to the waste-basket. That such 
catalogs have a decided interest to the users of 
the home reading box is shown by the fact that 
new catalogs are always taken away to the 
homes. The average manager has not the time 
to give each catalog the attention that it really 
deserves, but in the majority of cases there will 
be one or more men out in the plant who have 
both the time and interest to devote to the cata- 
log. These usually discarded catalogs are 
sometimes read to see if they will not contain a 
thought for the ^^ suggestion ^' box ; the by-prod- 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 57 

uct being that the plant is kept up to date, so 
far as information contained in new catalogs 
is concerned. In the same way sample maga- 
zines or papers may come in, which make no par- 
ticular appeal to the man to whom they are sent, 
or a magazine brings a marked article which is 
cut out and put on file, — the rest of the maga- 
zine being thrown into the waste-basket. 

All of this usually discarded material can be, 
with profit, sent to the home reading box. The 
man in the oflflce, who looks at and discards it, 
simply stamps or writes on it " 34,'^ the symbol 
of the home reading box, or the number of its 
station in the inter-office postal system, and 
puts it in his " out '' basket. On his next trip 
for distributing papers, the messenger takes the 
reading matter marked "34^' from the "out'' 
baskets, and deposits it in " 34,'' the home read- 
ing box. 

Another source of supply consists of the news- 
papers, magazines, or books bought by the mem- 
bers of the organiaztion as they come to work. 
The average man in the managefment depart- 
ments buys a paper or magazine as he comes to 
work. His daily paper is surely discarded, his 



58 FATIGUE STUDY 

magazine is often discarded, sometimes even a 
book is thrown aside as completed. These also 
go through the " out '^ basket to the home read- 
ing box. A cent or two a day for a morning pa- 
per is little or nothing to some members of the 
organization. A cent or two a day is a very 
important element in some working men's bud- 
gets. Besides there is an enormous waste, if 
daily papers are thrown away after having been 
read by but one person. 

The Home Element. 

A home reading box which has no other source 
of supply than that mentioned is not to be de- 
spised, but many advantages of the movement 
are lost, of course, if it is so restricted. It is de- 
sirable and customary, therefore, to interest as 
large a number of homes as possible in the move- 
ment. There are, first, the homes from which 
reading matter comes. The first problem is to 
arouse interest in such homes. The conversa- 
tion goes something like this: 

" Haven't you some reading matter that you 
wish to get rid of, that we could have for the 
Home Reading Box Movement?" 



Fig. 2 
This shows a typical collection of magazines ready to 
go to the Home Reading Box at the plant. 



Fig. 3 
This shows the passing of magazines from the wagon 
into the plant. The plant box is placed directly below the 
window, where, if no one is inside waiting to take the 
magazines, they may easily be dropped from the outside of 
the plant without disturbing any one in the plant. 



M":* 



i 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 59 

^' Just what do you want? '^ 

"Well, anything that is interesting, but es- 
pecially magazines of recent date, with which 
you have finished." 

" Oh, but we get hardly any magazines. Let 
me see. We do take the Saturday Evening Post, 
and my wife reads the Home Journal and the 
Woman^s Home Companion^ and I buy some of 
the weeklies and some of the monthlies." 

"And you get trade catalogs and trade pa- 
pers of various kinds besides?" 

" Oh, yes, we get some of those that pertain to 
our business." 

"Well, what do you do with them all, when 
you have finished reading them? " 

"Why, we throw the advertising matter into 
the waste-basket, and the trade papers we keep 
with the idea of binding some day, but we never 
have bound them. I don't know exactly what 
does become of them. I don't think we ever 
really look at the old ones.'^ 

It is this reading matter that we desire to 
send promptly into some home reading box. As 
to the other homes to which the reading matter 
ultimately goes, these may be, or may become, 



60 FATIGUE STUDY 

or may help others to become, the same type of 
home. At present little reading matter, can en- 
ter, because the wage earner cannot spare enough 
from his wages to buy much literature, and is too 
tired to go to the library in the evening. 
There is often the same desire for reading in 
this home, though it has not had such a chance 
to become trained. The whole family has the 
same desire to see the pictures, and the children 
the same joy in colouring the drawings or cutting 
them out. The neighbours will like to borrow 
anything that is interesting, and the reader will 
increase his stock of information and his vocabu- 
lary, and form the habit of reading besides. 
There are exactly the same possibilities of de- 
veloping habits and tastes. All that is lacking 
is the opportunity. 

The one hope for the working man is through 
education, and the greatest educational possibili- 
ties now, with very few exceptions, go into the 
waste-baskets of the nation. For example, con- 
sider the pile of Saturday Evening Posts that 
come out each week. These would make a pile 
more than three miles high each week. Think 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 61 

of the many other magazines and their effect 
upon homes that cannot afford to buy them.^ 

Routing the Magazines. 

The whole problem is to get the magazines 
from the home to the plant promptly and in the 
easiest way possible. When the first home read- 
ing box was established, we carried the maga- 
zines in our arms from our homes to the plant, 
where the magazines found their way to the home 
reading box by means of the inter-office mes- 
senger system. As other people became inter- 
ested, there were more magazines than could be 
conveniently carried, so we sent an automobile 
around, now and then, for collecting the maga- 
zines and taking them to the plant. Gradually 
other people were asked to co-operate, and regu- 
lar collections were made monthly by some mem- 
ber of the organization, who had time and an 
automobile at his disposal. If the auto was 
busy or the weather bad, an express wagon or a 
truck went the rounds. The aim, however, was, 
and is, always to have the collecting a part of 

1 The publishers are aU in favor of the Home Reading Box 
Movement, as it creates readers. 



62 FATIGUE STUDY 

the co-operation plan. It became a common 
sight in the town where the movement started to 
have a college professor take a Saturday after- 
noon off, and collect the magazines in his electric 
coupe, or to have one of the boys and his chums 
go out in a touring car, and fill the box at the 
plant, so that the men would find a fresh supply 
Monday morning. In some plants, where none 
of the homes in the vicinity has reading matter, 
it is boxed and sent by express from friends of 
the movement at a distance. Some bundles have 
come from as far as Bryn Mawr for the Home 
Beading Boxes in Providence. 

It is a great sight to see the big bundles come 
in, and to watch the workers, as they are opened. 
Every one is allowed to take what he pleases and 
as many as he pleases. There have been no re- 
strictions whatever, because the unhampered 
privileges have not been abused. He may bring 
any back, if he chooses, or he may keep all he 
takes, or he may pass them on to his less for- 
tunate friends or neighbours who are not em- 
ployed in a plant having a home reading box. 
He is rather urged to pass them on when he has 
finished with them, as we wish to maintain the 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 63 

reading club, or circulating library, idea. We 
consider the reading matter as loaned, and to be 
passed on in an endless chain. If the worker 
chooses to consider what he gets as a gift, that 
is his privilege. He may break the chain with- 
out reproach; in fact, breaking the chain has 
been the cause of starting real libraries on a 
small scale in many houses. 

The Problem of Maintenance. 

There are various important features to the 
maintenance problem. In order that the sup- 
ply may remain sufficient, as large a number as 
possible of co-operators must be secured, and 
they must, naturally, be required to do the least 
amount of work possible. 

In Providence, where the work started, the 
work was, during this first or starting period, 
placed in charge of a young man who devoted 
considerable time to putting it on a systematic 
basis. He divided the city into four districts, 
each district representing a telephone exchange 
district. Eoutes for collection were made out, 
and volunteer collectors assigned to the differ- 
ent routes. Notices of collections were sent out, 



64 FATIGUE STUDY 

and schedules strictly adhered to. Co-operators 
were, of course, allowed to keep their magazines 
in any place or in any way that they chose, but 
were urged, when convenient, to place the col- 
lecting home reading box in their respective 
front halls, near the front entrance, where, on 
the day that the collector called, the box could be 
emptied by him into the waiting automobile with 
least possible delay to him and with the least 
inconvenience to the household. As the list of 
subscribers, or co-operators, has grown, it has 
been a simple matter to amplify the routes. The 
same methods of collection are maintained. 

In another plant, each member of the or- 
ganization is responsible for what he can collect, 
and brings it to the plant himself. 

At a girls' college, where there is a branch, 
the girls collect the magazines in the dormitory, 
or ask their parents and friends to express what 
they have finished with, and then box the sup- 
ply at intervals and express it on to the selected 
plants. We recommend this method because it 
is so simple. 

At the present time the home branch demands 
a very small amount of time for operation. 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT Q5 

'' Make it easy for every one/^ might well be the 
motto of the home reading box movement. The 
" out '^ basket and the inter-offlce system furnish 
the solution for the oflftce force. As for the 
worker himself, the placing of the box where it 
will be most convenient for him has already been 
emphasized. Choose a place where the worker 
can pick the magazines up on his way out at noon 
or at night, with room enough around the box 
to allow half a dozen people to stop, select, and 
chat as they turn the magazines over. One must 
actually see the workers reading the magazines 
noon times, instead of, as formerly, losing con- 
sistently at poker to the foremen, in order to 
appreciate the full benefits of the home reading 
box movement. It may seem surprising to see 
the workman carrying home two to four dollars' 
worth (in original cost) of magazines each 
week — reading suited to every member of the 
family. But there is really nothing strange 
about it. This is what he would always have 
done had he had the chance. 

A second factor in maintenance is keeping the 
reading matter up to date. When the move- 
ment is first started, the workers will take any- 



66 FATIGUE STUDY 

thing home, out of interest or curiosity. In dis- 
tricts where there is little reading matter avail- 
able outside, they may continue to take home al- 
most anything put into the box. But with con- 
tinued reading they become more discriminating. 
This is, of course, exactly what is desired. Then 
the reading matter, to make the strongest appeal, 
must be timely. A morning paper is exciting 
in the morning, quite readable at noon, not im- 
possible at night. Except as practice in read- 
ing, it has little value the next morning. A May 
magazine issued in the middle of April is cur- 
rent literature through May 31st. It becomes 
a last month's magazine on June 1st. Any one 
enjoys carrying the magazine of the month about 
with him. It is a fact that most men, especially 
those who do not have many magazines, feel a 
little peculiar when seen reading an old maga- 
zine of current events in public. They have the 
consciousness of conspicuousness that at least 
distracts the attention. No magazine that has 
pictures or stories or articles on travel, or any- 
thing that is interesting at any time, will go 
without a great circle of readers, but current 
events must be current in order to hold the at- 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 67 

tention thoroughly. The workers will be glad, 
in the average plant, to get anything to read, 
but, if you want to keep them excited, send the 
magazine out the moment that you have finished 
with it at home, so that it will be this month's 
magazine. The strong preference for this 
month's magazine may not be founded upon wis- 
dom, but it is very human. 

How the Conditions Vary. 

The home reading box will prove a success in 
any plant, no matter how simple the installation 
and running plan are, but it can only retain its 
best results when a careful consideration is given 
to the conditions that affect the particular prob- 
lem. The important feature is, of course, the 
type of worker who is to receive the literature. 
Where the group of workers consists of foreign- 
ers, many of whom read no English, and speak 
it little, the picture magazines are the most 
sought. Where you have a group of highly 
skilled mechanics, technical magazines and trade 
catalogs are highly appreciated. There is 
such a great difference in the workers of any 
one place, that the rule is to give them anything 



68 FATIGUE STUDY 

and everything — from the Outlook to the Police 
Gazette^ inclusive. If you give them enough to 
read, they will sooner or later waste none of their 
time on anything but the best. The desire for 
good reading is almost wholly a matter of educa- 
tion, and the best way to become educated is to 
readj read^ read. If you are at a distance from 
civilization, old mgazines will be almost as wel- 
come as new. 

You must realize that the problem is different 
in different cases. What some people need is 
general education. Of course, that is what we 
all need, but the worker in particular. What 
others need is specialized teaching. What still 
others need is relaxation. All need amusement 
and entertainment. We want, of course, to sup- 
ply what is interesting and profitable, but the 
final test is giving the worker the thing that will 
please him most, that he will delight to have, 
that he may increase his vocabulary and learn 
to read quickly, for not till then will he ac- 
quire the reading appetite and habit. Give the 
foreigner who reads with difficulty the pictures 
with the simple captions that he can " spell out." 
Give the factory girl the woman^s magazine that 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 69 

will show her how to trim her hats and fix her 
dress, and that may give her all sorts of useful 
home ideas besides. Give the inventive me- 
chanic the technical and trade magazine that 
may supply the missing link in his invention or 
suggestion. Give the socialistic worker the 
" Political Economy Journal/' that will put his 
ideas in more logical shape. Use discrimination 
in your distribution when you can, but, if you 
cannot, put the box in anyway, fill it with read- 
ing matter, and start something to-day. 

The Home Reading Box and Fatigue. 

Not only is the influence of the home reading 
box upon fatigue important, but the amount of 
fatigue existing has a strong influence upon the 
home reading box. The home reading box plays 
an important part in recovery from fatigue. It 
is a help to the worker during the time that he 
is not at work. It is the psychologist's task to 
investigate the relation of mental fatigue to 
bodily fatigue, and the proper amount of mental 
stimulus to prescribe or allow during the periods 
when the body is resting; but it is good practice, 
while waiting the results of the psychologist's 



70 FATIGUE STUDY 

investigation to be formulated into industrial 
terms, to encourage the worker to read whatever 
he likes. 

The By-products of the Home Reading Box 
Movement. 

There are so many important results from the 
home reading box movement that it is difficult 
to decide which are the products and which are 
the by-products. Let us call the product the 
fatigue elimination for which we planned, and 
that results when we establish the home reading 
box movement. Along with this come the fol- 
lowing : 

1. The recognition of fatigue elimination as 
a vital part of management. This is se- 
cured by numbering the box as a sta- 
tion, by using the ^' out '^ baskets as rout- 
ing channels, by having the messenger 
carry the magazines to the box from 
the baskets as part of the daily routine. 

2. The education of the worker. Quite 
aside from the fact that the reading mat- 
ter interests, amuses, or rests him, the 
worker is educated by his reading. It 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 71 

is this side of the movement that has most 
interested sociologists and educators. 
The chief trouble with the worker to-day 
is that he needs more and more educa- 
tion. The average worker has two ob- 
stacles. In the first place, he has a 
limited vocabulary that retards his speed 
in reading. In the second place, he can- 
not read educational matter fast enough 
to hold his attention. Through the read- 
ing matter put at his disposal, he does 
learn more words, — both how to recog- 
nize them and how to use them. He thus 
becomes better able to express himself, 
as well as a more rapid reader. Of 
course this implies mental development. 
The worker who is better educated to 
start with also acquires more vocabulary 
and more speed. It may be a technical 
instead of a general vocabulary, but the 
development is the same, 
t. The stimulation of invention. This takes 
place through the ideas obtained from 
the technical magazines and trade cata- 
logs. We have noted time and again 



72 FATIGUE STUDY 

men who have said, in effect, — "You 
know I got this idea from an article 
I read from the box ; " or, " You know 
I have had this idea for a long time, 
but I could not see exactly how to work 
it until I saw a picture in a magazine I 
got out of the Home Beading Box ; " or, 
again, " I saw a picture the other day 
that suggested something that we could 
use on my machine. I am going to turn 
in the suggestion to the Suggestion Box.'' 
The suggestion box and its use are to be 
described at length later. 

4. The stimulus towards making suggestions 
for prizes. It is noted here that the read- 
ing not only stimulates the worker mak- 
ing suggestions, but gives him a chance 
to put his ideas into more practical and 
working shape. Where the Suggestion 
Box has been running some time before 
the Home Beading Box has been put in, 
we note the sudden rise in the number 
of suggestions offered after the installa- 
tion of the Home Beading Box. 

5. Co-operation with public and travelling 




FOR USE OF ALL EMPLOYEE 
APPLYAT INFORMATION BUREAi 



Fig. -1 
The Public Library Branch at the New England Butt 
Companj^ Providence, K. I., for eliminating the necessity, 
and consequently the fatigue, of journeying to a regular 
Public Library. 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 73 

libraries and other educational institu- 
tions. A plant library is becoming a reg- 
ular institution. It is usually one of the 
first things introduced by the welfare or 
betterment department. The problem is 
to make the workers take out the books. 
In some plants the management also buys 
books and starts a circulating library. 
In others, the public library sends a loan 
collection that is changed as often as the 
plant desires. Even in districts where 
there are no public libraries such books 
are available, as most of the States have 
State loan collections of this type. In a 
typical New England plant the librarian 
of the city was more than willing to co- 
operate. He asked the plant to supply a 
list of books which he should send. His 
letter was discussed in the foremen's 
meeting, and every member present 
helped by submitting a list of books that 
he had read and enjoyed most in his life. 
From these lists a list of fifty books was 
made up and sent to the librarian, who 
pronounced it the best list that he had 



74 FATIGUE STUDY 

ever seen. The books were promptly 
brought to the plant, and put in a con- 
venient place where every member of the 
organization could see the titles and bor- 
row them. The first book taken out by 
an Italian labourer was Dante's " Divine 
Comedy '' in the original. But the li- 
brary at the plant is another story. The 
influence on the home reading box is to 
make the library much more popular and 
to affect markedly the books in greatest 
demand. There is a strong influence also 
seen upon the number of workers who 
attend evening school at the general even- 
ing school or some of the special evening 
schools in the vicinity. 
6. The influence upon clubs and other or- 
ganizations. The home reading box fur- 
nishes also topics for discussion in all 
of the organization of members of the 
plant. This influence can be noted in 
foremen's meetings, in organization meet- 
ings, and in any formal or informal 
gathering of the organization. The in- 
fluence is seen in the topics discussed and 



HOME READING BOX MOVEMENT 75 

in the form and style of the discussion. 
The worker can speak with authority, if 
some magazine or catalog " backs up '' 
his ideas. He can bring new light on the 
problem, if he has seen several views pre- 
sented in the material he has read. He 
has a definite suggestion, something to 
say when he is called upon, something to 
volunteer if he is not called upon. 
7. The spirit of co-operation. Most impor- 
tant of all the spirit of co-operation is 
fostered, co-operation among the workers, 
co-operation of worker and manage- 
ment, co-operation between all interested 
in the movement as subscribers, as col- 
lectors, as readers, as ^^ passers-on.'' As 
a positive force this spirit of co-operation 
is more valuable than anything else. 

How to Begin. 

Begin by interesting the management force 
and insuring a supply of reading matter. Then 
put up the box in the plant, and tell the men 
that whatever goes in it is at their disposal. If 
you have the right ideas back of it, the develop- 



76 FATIGUE STUDY 

ment is inevitable. Your motto must be " Keep 
the box full.'^ The ^' how " will come to supply 
the need. The workers will see to keeping the 
box empty, if you do your part properly. The 
important thing is that the movement be started 
at once. It is not only an important part in 
making more pleasant the time spent in recover- 
ing from fatigue, but also an enormous help in 
fatigue elimination. It is to this that we must 
next turn our attention. 

Summary. 

The Home Reading Box Movement is a method 
of putting reading matter at the disposal of the 
worker. It collects this reading matter from the 
homes of those interested and from the desks of 
members of the organization who have finished 
with it, and places it in a box. The workers take 
it from this box to read either during noon rests 
or at home. The movement not only helps to 
overcome fatigue, but has many valuable by- 
products, and is an important element in fatigue 
elimination. 



CHAPTER V 

PRELIMINARY FATIGUE ELIMINATION: WHAT 

CAN BE DONE IMMEDIATELY, AT THE 

VERY BEGINNING 

The Lighting Problem. 

It is not necessary to have a scientific knowl- 
edge of motion study, physiology, and psychol- 
ogy, or even of hygiene, in order to make pre- 
liminary, anti-fatigue improvements in working 
conditions of any industrial organization that 
has not already had a regular fatigue survey 
made. We might profitably begin with lighting, 
since no fatigue is more wearing than eye fa- 
tigue. We attempt here only to ask a few gen- 
eral questions about the light. " Is there enough 
light, so that every one can see his own work per- 
fectly?" "Is the light properly distributed?'' 
" Is glare prevented? '^ Etc. Nearly all factory 
managers of to-day are careful to provide enough 
light for the worker. In their desire to furnish 

light enough, many workers often have more 

77 



78 FATIGUE STUDY 

light than is really comfortable, and are forced 
to adjust their eyes constantly in order to see 
distinctly. The lighting to be found in most fac- 
tories is not properly distributed, and seldom 
strikes the work at the least fatiguing angle. 

The greatest fatigue from lighting, however, 
lies in the question of glare and reflection. One 
sees examples of this everywhere. It is caused 
largely by a misplaced pride in equipment or 
machinery, and by keeping everything in a high 
state of polish. One is often disturbed and in- 
convenienced in even the best equipped public 
libraries by the glare of the electric lights upon 
the shiny, varnished, or otherwise highly polished 
surfaces of the desks. Oftentimes we see lights 
carefully placed so that the individual gets light 
enough with his light in the right location, while 
lights in the distance shine in his eyes. Even 
when the lights are provided with adjustable 
shades, it is almost impossible to place one's book 
in such a position that reflected light will not 
shine from the page to the eyes. The glare from 
nickel-plated machinery, be it a large factory 
machine or a typewriter, or any other kind of 
shop or office equipment, will cause fatigue, if 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 79 

the eye is required to work constantly in the vi- 
cinity; but the source of fatigue is not recog- 
nized. A dull black finished machine may not 
be as beautiful either to manufacturer or pur- 
chaser as would be a shiny, nickel-plated machine 
of the same design, but the main question is, 
'' How much comfort will the operator take while 
using the machine? '^ The kind of finish of such 
machinery is usually affected greatly, if not de- 
termined wholly, by the question of salesman- 
ship. Good appearances have always been a 
large element in making sales, and it is natural 
and right that the manufacturer should like his 
product to be attractive in appearance, and that 
the manager should take pride in the looks of his 
factory or office. But our entire standard of 
what is desirable in " good looks " in a work place 
has changed. We look now for efficiency and fa- 
tigue elimination rather than for ornament and 
glaring polish. We reduced fatigue, annoyance, 
and distraction on several pieces of work by hav- 
ing our clients paint nickel and other bright 
parts with a coat of dull black paint. For the 
best results to the eye, the same finish as that on 
the inside of a camera is to be recommended. 



80 FATIGUE STUDY 

We are coming to realize more and more that 
the great test of everything is suitability, and 
that the mysterious and tangible thing called 
" suitability ^' simply consists of the measure of 
predetermined units of desired qualities. The 
operating room in the hospital is bare, with plain 
walls and rounded corners, with the least oppor- 
tunity for dust lodgment, because that is most 
suitable to the type of work done there. The 
modern business desk is flat topped, with no tiny 
drawers or cubby -holes to collect papers and mis- 
cellaneous odds and ends, because this type of 
desk conforms best with present day systems of 
office management. In the same way all machin- 
ery and office equipment should be without so- 
called ornament or polish, because in this way 
the most work can be done with the least amount 
of fatigue. Our whole idea of ornament is 
changing. Suitability here also is the standard, 
and the artists have done noble work in setting 
an example to the trades. " Suitability '^ must 
become a slogan for every department in the 
organization. 

The new doctrine will interest the selling de- 
partment, who act as intermediaries between the 



Fig. 5 
This photograph shows a typical "motion-studied" desk. 
This desk is cross-sectioned, so that standards can be made 
as to the placing of those things that are constantly re- 
quired for work. The only drawer containing any per- 
manent materials is pulled out at the left. It contains 
duplicate supplies of our standard forms, so arranged that 
a man will not run out of supplies at his desk, as the 
holder in which the reserve supply is placed is a notification 
to the desk supply boy that supplies in addition to the 
weekly furnishings are wanted immediately. 

Fig. 6 

This picture shows a "one-motion" pencil rack. This 
is one of the many little devices that we have used to 
cause every one throughout the plant to think in terms 
of elementary and least fatiguing motions. This pencil rack 
was devised little by little, suggestions coming from dif- 
ferent employees. For example, one suggestion was that 
the grooves be painted different colours, representing the 
standardized places for the different coloured pencils. An- 
other suggestion was that a deep horizontal groove be 
added, that the fingers might go around the pencil at the 
exact place where used when in the position of writing. 
The slant of the rack is that slant whereby the pencil will 
surely slide down by gravity to the stop at the bottom 
of the pencil rack, but not slide with force enough to break 
even the most delicate point. 

Such a de\dce alone saves very little time or fatigue, 
but it represents one of many kinds of devices that make for 
habits that cause less fatigue. 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 81 

manufacliiriiij;- dopartiueiit ami tlio public who is 
to buy the product. It will bo a real part of the 
preliminary work in adjusting such conditions 
as lii>:htin!>' to take the snlcs departnumt and pur- 
chasinj>' department into conference on the sub- 
ject. Let all interest eil sw that nothinj;' conu^ 
into or }]ct>es out of the plant until the question, 
" What is its relation to fatii;ue*' " hns been con- 
sidered. We for^vt sometimes tliat a thiuii: may 
have value not only because it has certain quali- 
ties that eliminate fatijiue, but also because it 
lacks certain qualities that would cause fatiji'ue. 
Uo, then, throuj^ii your own plant with the 
question of glare in your mind. Exanune and 
inspect eviMy work i>lace, and see what can be 
done. Not only for reasons of glare, but for 
other reasons we recommend that every work 
place should be inspected for unnecessary fatigue 
by having a man, competent in fatigue study, 
actually sit ;nul stand in the working position 
in each and every work place in the establishment 
once every three months during the installation 
period, and not seldomer than once per year 
thereafter. Sometimes it will be found that mov- 
ing the nearest light or shading a distant light 



82 FATIGUE STUDY 

will be all that is necessary. Sometimes a coat- 
ing of dull black paint on some of the working 
equipment is required; sometimes the substitu- 
tion of a dull-finished for a glossy paper. Some- 
times dull-coloured blotting paper can be laid 
upon the place where the reflected glare comes. 
Perhaps a dull finish upon that would not only 
save the time of your workers, but also those who 
are to use the product after it leaves your hands. 
The w^orld worked a great many years under the 
motto, " Give the public what it wants." We are 
beginning to realize to-day that the public will 
want just exactly what it is educated to want; 
also that the public is easily educated if the ar- 
guments that are used are based upon measure- 
ment, and are presented in attractive form. The 
lighting problem is but a small element of the 
problem of eye fatigue. This will, however, be 
left for later consideration. 

The Heating, Cooling, and Ventilating Problem. 

This problem has to do with different aspects 
of seeing that the worker is provided with proper 
air. We are beginning to realize that the air 
problem is much more complicated than was for- 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 83 

merly thought. Kecent investigations have gone 
to prove that the temperature of the air is fully 
as important as the supply of air, and that hu- 
midity is another important element. In this 
day no one can feel satisfied with his solution of 
the air problem who has not submitted it to an 
expert, and installed the results of his measured 
investigation. In the meantime, safety lies on 
the side of providing more fresh air than is neces- 
sary. If there is plenty of fresh air, unless the 
work itself demands peculiar temperature or hu- 
midity conditions, the worker is fairly safe. The 
rest periods that are being installed will do much 
to solve the air problem, as they furnish an ad- 
mirable opportunity for giving the work places 
a thorough ventilation, if not a complete " airing 
out.'' This is not in the least to underestimate 
the importance of proper temperature and of 
proper humidity, as will be noted later. All 
measured records of outputs should include rec- 
ords of the temperature and the humidity. The 
accumulation of this data is daily bringing 
nearer the time when standards covering these 
will be available. In the meantime, give the 
worker plenty of fresh air all the time. 



84 FATIGUE STUDY 

Fire Protection, 

The average manager to-day realizes fully the 
necessity for fire protection. It is not, perhaps, 
so fully realized that the mere knowledge that 
there is adequate fire protection has a consider- 
able effect upon the mental comfort of many of 
the workers. Nothing is more fatiguing than 
worry. When each worker in the establishment 
knows that in case of a fire he can leave the 
building with speed and perfect safety, he has 
absolutely no worry or distraction from the fire 
standpoint. 

Fire protection should include not only seeing 
that the building and all it contains are made as 
fire-proof as possible, and installing all possible 
devices for putting out a fire should one start, 
but also the fire drill. Here the motto of the Boy 
Scouts is useful, " Be prepared.'' There is noth- 
ing so satisfactory as preparedness. The fire 
drill is not only a means of handling the organi- 
zation during a fire, but it is also a splendid 
preparation for meeting an emergency. The 
great problem that arises in any unexpected situ- 
ation is the problem of making a decision. If 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 85 

one can acquire the habit of making a decision 
quickly, and can also make habitual certain de- 
cisions in certain situations, the resulting speed 
and fatigue elimination is remarkable. Make 
the response to the fire situation, then, standard. 
You will be benefiting your workers not only by 
teaching them how to act in any fire anywhere, 
but also by teaching them how to respond to a 
signal in a standard way. These various sets of 
habits in response to various stimuli should be 
formed in the first years of the school life, if 
not before. They are being formed at this time 
to-day to a greater extent than ever before, but 
unfortunately the majority of adult workers in 
the industries have never had such training as 
children. It, therefore, becomes the duty of the 
management to form such habits as rapidly as 
possible. 

Safety Protection. 

Safety protection in its broadest sense covers 
not only protection from grave dangers, but from 
anything that might have a harmful effect upon 
the worker's body or mind. The standard to be 
set is that everything should be safe not only 



86 FATIGUE STUDY 

when the work is done by experienced adult work- 
ers, but even should it be done by inexperienced, 
immature or tired workers. We know how many 
accidents happen to the inexperienced worker, 
that would never happen to the experienced 
worker. We all know how many children are 
hurt, where an older person would see and 
avoid danger; and we note every day, more and 
more clearly, that the exhausted worker is to an 
enormous extent more susceptible to accidents 
than is the rested worker. It is usually the tired 
motorman who has the collision. The tired loco- 
motive engineer passes the stop signal. The ex- 
hausted motorist is in the accident. The tired 
operator gets his fingers caught in the machine. 
The overtired sickroom attendant gives the 
wrong medicine. 

One side of the fatigue elimination question is 
that fatigue elimination cuts down accidents. 
The other side is that cutting out the chance of 
accidents eliminates fatigue. Here again the 
question of worry is an important element. If 
one knows that the working conditions are abso- 
lutely safe, he can concentrate his attention upon 
the work in hand. 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 87 

It is coining to be understood not only that it 
is mandatory that working conditions be made 
healthful, but also that it is perfectly possible, 
and, in most cases, easy to make such conditions 
healthful. 

Look over your conditions, then. Put the 
proper safety devices on the machine, the tools, 
etc. Install the vacuum cleaners that will col- 
lect the dust and lint. Put the goggles or nos- 
tril-guard, or other device, on the worker, that 
will insure to him clean air and decent working 
conditions. Make a scientific attack upon the 
problem later, but put in a safety device now^, 
even if you have to change some of it next week. 
You will gain the immediate return that will 
make the investigation pay from every stand- 
point in the changed attitude of your workers, if 
in nothing else. The Museum of Safety Devices, 
with its energetic and enthusiastic secretary, will 
show you what has been done and what can be 
done in the line of safety. " Safety First '' has 
become the slogan of the day. If we make it 
'' Safety First, beginning now,'^ we shall have full 
working directions. 



8S FATIGUE STUDY 

The Work Place. 

The working conditions that we have so far 
discussed have more or less effect upon all of the 
workers in a group. We come next to the in- 
spection of the work place of each individual 
worker. The first consideration here is that he 
have room enough in which to work. There is 
an enormous amount of fatigue involved in doing 
work in an overcrowded work place, yet few 
workers or managers realize this. Again, habit 
is involved here, and the habit of order demands 
that the work place be kept in an orderly condi- 
tion. Any one who has walked through facto- 
ries, shops, or any places where work is going 
on must have noted the tired appearance of the 
workers among what is called ^^ clutter." The 
girl selling ribbon, who walks up and down be- 
hind the counter through an accumulation of 
paper, cardboard cores, and other odds and ends, 
has not only the bodily fatigue of pushing the 
clutter ahead, or kicking it aside, but also the 
mental fatigue that comes from adjusting herself 
constantly to such conditions. The folder of 
cloth, who has barely enough room to move her 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 89 

hands because of the supply of finished and un- 
finished materials, is fatigued from the clumsy 
position, even though she and no one else realizes 
this. The office worker, whose finished and un- 
finished papers are heaped in confusion before 
him, expends not only useless motions in getting 
at and disposing of what he wishes to handle, 
but also mental energy, in constantly adjusting 
and readjusting himself to the work. There has 
been a popular idea that it " looked busy '' to 
have plenty of work around, that to see work to 
be done would impress both managers and work- 
ers with the need for applying themselves to the 
work more constantly and with considerably 
more speed. This may be true if the work is ar- 
ranged in an orderly fashion, but disorderly work 
is far more likely to discourage than to stimulate 
the worker. As for completed work, there is no 
excuse for leaving large quantities of it at the 
work place one moment longer than is absolutely 
necessary. Any encouragement that it might 
give the worker could better be given by a record 
of what he has done. 



90 FATIGUE STUDY 

The Work-bench or Table. 

Few work-benches or tables should be consid 
ered as absolutely satisfactory that do not per 
mit the worker to do his work standing or sitting, 
Our ideas as to proper work-benches or tables 
and as to the proper placing, height, etc., of ma 
chinery and tools have too often been prescribed 
to us by the manufacturers of the articles, who 
have thought more of what was convenient to 
manufacture than of what was least fatiguing to 
use. Such manufacturers are not to be blamed 
in the least for their attitude. They, naturally, 
have been guided by what would sell best. They 
have, as a rule, shown themselves more than 
willing to supply any legitimate demand. The 
user must demand what will be best for his work. 
It is no slight, short-time job to determine the 
proper height, positioning, and layout of a work- 
bench, using this term in a general sense to cover 
the place of any kind of work upon which the 
worker is engaged. As preliminary work, we 
may, usually, then, boost everything that can be 
so lifted to such a height that the worker, at his 
option, may stand or sit. If it becomes a case 



Fig. 7 
This picture shows the " Gilbreth " table laid down in its 
lower position. This table is particularly adapted for a 
work -bench or table where it is desired to have two dif- 
ferent heights for different kinds of work. The table and 
its load can be picked up with a booster truck in either 
this position or the higher position simply by operating 
the lever of the booster truck and without touching the 
table at all. 



Fig. 8 
This picture shows the *' Gilbreth " table standing in 
its higher position. 



Fig. 9 
This is a sample of photographs that are taken to im- 
press upon the foreman the reasons why certain methods 
are wrong. For example, this picture shows two ** Gil- 
breth " tables resting on their long side at their low height, 
so fixed that they can be picked up by "booster*' trucks. 
The in-and-out bins are not the same size. The outward 
one is considerably too high to be convenient for the worker, 
and the worker is provided with a box instead of a com- 
fortable stool. 




Fig. 7 



Fig. 8 



Fi(^,. 1) 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 91 

of single choice, that is, his either standing or 
sitting, arrange the work so that he does it sit- 
ting, and does the necessary standing or moving 
about during his rest periods. 

The change in industrial conditions has made 
this problem important. The question once was, 
" Can we make it of a quality that will pass? " 
Since the day of intensive outputs, the question 
has become, ^^ How many can we make of a given 
quality? " In the first case, any kind of work- 
bench was good enough, — the worry being lim- 
ited to the question of ^^ Can we make it? " Now 
it is no trouble to make almost anything; but the 
worry is " Can we make enough so that the cost 
will enable us to pay the required wages and still 
compete, or must we give up manufacturing in 
this location? ^^ This makes us think of the least 
fatiguing conditions and of making work-benches 
of two levels, etc. 

The Chair or Other Fatigue-Eliminating Device. 

Closely related with the work place is the work 
chair. It is distinct from the rest chair in that 
it is specially devised to be used during work 
periods. The ideal work chair is of such a 



92 FATIGUE STUDY 

height that the worker's elbows will bear the 
same relation to the work place when he is sitting 
as they would if the work place were properly 
adjusted for him to do standing work. Types of 
chairs that have been designed and that are prov- 
ing effective in eliminating fatigue while at work 
will be described more at length in the next 
chapter. The important point to be considered 
here is to adjust the work to the worker if possi- 
ble. Where this is not possible, immediately, 
adjust the worker as best you can to the work. 
Make the relation of his elbows to the work the 
deciding point. If at present the work must be 
done standing, and the worker is too small, and 
it is easier to raise the worker than lower the 
work -bench or table, provide some sort of a stand 
or platform that will put him at the proper level. 
If he is large, raise the work-bench by lengthen- 
ing the legs, or adding a false top, or, in some 
rare cases, by lowering the standing place. If 
the work is seated work, adjusting the chair will 
probably be the simplest change to make. Arm 
rests often afford an immediate and immense re- 
lief, but must fit the particular arm and be ad- 
justable for best results. A head-rest may also 



Fig. 10 
Very few people realize that the working girl should be 
measured for her working chair in which she spends one- 
half of the time that she is awake during her entire work- 
ing life. For this purpose we have had testing chairs of 
varying heights made for the girls to sit in, and then have 
made a chair for each girl, particularly adapted to her and 
her work. The correct height of chair is determined much 
quicker and fits much more accurately than does an adjust- 
able chair. 



Fig. 11 
This picture shows a worker seated at standing height 
operating a drill press. The pieces arrive in his inward 
box by means of a small belt conveyor that transports 
finished pieces from the machine that performs the previous 
operation. 



1 




Fig. 10 




Fig. 11 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 93 

be a valuable first aid, though often a later im- 
provement in working methods will eliminate so 
much eye and head fatigue that the head-rest will 
not be needed. In other types of work, the foot- 
rest will often do the most immediate good. If 
every manager were made to sit for a certain num- 
ber of hours to-day with his feet hanging, there 
would be an enormous increase in the number of 
foot rests in our industrial plants to-morrow 
morning. 

Placing the Material Worked On. 

In cases where it is difficult to readjust the 
work place, much fatigue may often be elimi- 
nated by placing the work in a better position. 
In fact this aspect of the problem should always 
be considered along with the readjustment of the 
work itself. For example, in folding handker- 
chiefs, a folder may be seated at a table, folding 
directly on the table. The table may be too low 
for the work. If she is given a board upon 
which to fold, this may not only put her work 
itself at the proper height, but it is also possible, 
with trifling added expense, to provide her with 
a table in two adjoining sections at two different 



94 FATIGUE STUDY 

heights, and a sloping board that will make the 
work less fatiguing, as she can maintain a much 
better posture. She will also be enabled to put 
the finished product at a lower level. This will 
increase speed, while at the same time eliminat- 
ing fatigue, which is, of course, an ideal condi- 
tion. 

In considering the placing of materials, we 
must consider also the manner in which the ma- 
terials come to the worker and in which they 
leave him. Our later method study will make so 
many changes here that only very apparent, nec- 
essary, and inexpensive improvements should be 
made at this stage. Be sure, however, that you 
are using gravity wherever it can be used to ad- 
vantage. Often we have found a small belt con- 
veyor to be helpful in cutting down the hand 
transportation. 

The Placing of Tools and Devices. 

Gravity and mechanical means can be of use 
here, especially in carrying working equipment 
back to the place where it remains when not in 
use. Many preliminary improvements can also 
be made by standardizing the place where the 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 95 

tool is to be left when not in use. There is not 
only the bodily fatigue of bringing the tool from 
a more distant place than is necessary, there is 
also the unconscious fatigue of constantly decid- 
ing such unimportant questions as where it is 
to be placed. 

The Clothing of the Worker. 

In an excellent series of articles on dress, pub- 
lished some Tears aoro, Miss Tarbell laid down 
the rule that " suitability • ' is the final test of a 
costume. It is with this in mind that the cloth- 
ing worn by the members of the organization 
while at work should be examined. It must be 
said, in the first place, that there is no more rea- 
son for the common custom of the worker pro- 
viding his special outer clothing while at work 
than there is for his proyiding his other tools 
and equipment. In other times, the workmen 
of many trades preferred to provide their own 
tools, and did so, but in a scientifically managed 
plant to-day, the workers are provided by the 
management with standard tools. The man- 
agement has standardized the best in a tool, and 
keeps it in the best possible working condition. 



96 - FATIGUE STUDY 

In the same way, it should be the duty of the 
management to provide special working clothes, 
when they have been standardized. This in- 
volves, of course, the problem of laundering, 
which may seem complicated to one who is not 
acquainted with what has been done in this field. 
There has been very little done in most kinds 
of work to provide a costume, designed to con- 
form to motion economy and least fatigue, that 
is, at the same time, useful, artistic, and pleas- 
ing. Progress has been rendered even slower by 
the fact that many workers have a prejudice 
against such garments, feeling that they show a 
class distinction. All that is necessary is to 
create a fashion of wearing such garments, like 
the fashion of wearing atelier or studio clothes. 
In no place can an example of unsuitable clothing 
be more clearly seen than in the laundry industry. 
Much of the work done in the typical laundry is 
done while standing, and the women who form 
a majority of the workers wear clothes, and par- 
ticularly shoes that make the work far more fa- 
tiguing than it need be. Yet in this very indus- 
try some of the most progressive work to im- 
prove conditions is being done. In Europe a 



FATIGUE ELIMINATION 97 

shoe with a thick wooden sole and a heavy 
leather upper over the front part of the foot only 
is considered the most comfortable and least 
fatiguing. It is also certainly the cheapest and 
most durable. But Americans will not wear 
such a shoe. The shoe furnishes the most diffi- 
cult feature of the costume problem. Here 
again the most important thing is that the 
" fashion '' of wearing comfortable and efficient 
garments shall be set. We have hoped for years 
that sensible fashions in workers' clothes might 
be set by patterning after tennis or other athletic 
costumes, but the time when this will become 
general seems as yet far distant, due to the neces- 
sity of the worker using his oldest and discarded 
" dress up '' clothes, ultimately for his working 
clothes. Nevertheless, the great loss in effi- 
cency, due to the general custom of wearing 
clothes that interfere with comfortable work, 
and that cause unnecessary fatigue, has caused 
us to start a campaign for the design and 
standardization of more suitable clothes. As 
yet we have had but few designs submitted in 
answer to our appeal to the worker to study the 
clothes problem for himself or herself. We are 



dS FATIGUE STUDY 

making the same appeal to the management to 
suggest costumes for the approval of the worker. 
In order that there may be no duplication, that 
we may pass on good ideas, we have started a lit- 
tle museum where typical fatigue-eliminating 
devices of all sorts may be gathered, and studied 
by any one interested. We must next describe 
in some detail what is and what is not as yet 
there, in order to offer definite suggestions for 
preliminary fatigue-eliminating designs that can 
be used from the first day of making changes. 

Summary. 

Preliminary fatigue elimination consists of 
improving lighting, heating, ventilation, fire and 
safety protection. It also consists of improv- 
ing work places and work tables, of providing 
and improving chairs, and rearranging materials 
and tools, and studying the clothing of the 
worker. It aims to make immediate inexpensive 
changes before entering into an intensive study 
of the problem. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE FATIGUE MUSEUM; AN OBJECT LESSON 

What a Fatigue Museum Is. 

A fatigue museum is a collection of devices 
for and information concerning the elimination 
of fatigue, or for affording rest for overcoming 
fatigue. Its purpose is to serve as an object les- 
son as to how the fatigue problem may be ap- 
proached practically. It aims primarily not to 
show beautiful exhibits, but to show devices 
which have actually done service. Many of 
these bear the marks of clumsy workmanship 
and hurried and cheap construction. This is an 
advantage rather than a disadvantage. It 
shows that fatigue elimination does not demand 
a large expenditure of money, nor depend upon 
having at the beck and call highly skilled me- 
chanics to make the devices. Some of the ex- 
hibits have the excellent finish and the careful 
workmanship of the perfect product; but no 

99 



100 FATIGUE STUDY 

chair or piece of equipment, photograph, or 
drawing is too rough or too unfinished to find a 
place in the museum, if it contains an idea that 
actually may be utilized to eliminate or overcome 
fatigue. 

The Parent Fatigue Museum. 

The parent fatigue museum is in Providence, 
Ehode Island, and was started by us some years 
ago with five devices, — three chairs and two de- 
vices for conveying material. It has grown 
very slowly, and even now comprises but a dozen 
devices and a few score of photographs. It is 
open every day of the year, free for inspection by 
visitors. Most of the devices submitted and ex- 
hibited have not been patented. The Fatigue 
Museum patents no devices, has no commercial 
interest at all in the devices exhibited, but it 
accepts fatigue eliminating exhibits of any kind 
from inventors or managers, and posts, along 
with the exhibit and the description of its special 
features, the name of the inventor and his ad- 
dress; this, that any one interested may get in 
touch with the maker of any devices already in 
existence. Realizing that few find it possible to 



THE FATIGUE MUSEUM 101 

visit the museum, we have taken photographs 
of the various exhibits, and are glad to send 
these with descriptions to any who are inter- 
ested, and who write to ask for them. 

We find that the interest in the museum grows. 
Branch museums are springing up in different 
parts of the country. Every man at the second 
session of our Summer School of Measured 
Functional Management, which consisted of 
professors of psychology, engineering, and eco- 
nomics, volunteered to open a branch at his 
college. We are glad to have others who are 
interested, no matter what their field of activity, 
start branches also. All that is necessary to 
open a branch is to collect photographs, draw- 
ings, or actual examples of fatigue eliminating 
devices. Some of the college fatigue museums 
have consisted, until now, simply of such collec- 
tions, though one college in particular has ap- 
propriated one hundred dollars, and is provid- 
ing space for the exhibition of working models. 

The parent museum is called Museum of De- 
vices for Eliminating Unnecessary Fatigue, 
Number One, and the branch museums are num- 
bered chronologically. There is no reason why 



102 FATIGUE STUDY 

such museums should not be started in every fac- 
tory, as well as in every college, and we are de- 
lighted to co-operate with any one who desires 
to start such a museum. 

What the Fatigue Museum Contains. 

The fatigue museum contains, at the present 
time, types of chairs, types of devices which hold 
working material in a convenient position, sev- 
eral assembly devices, several transportation de- 
vices, a work apron, and various drawings and 
photographs. It emphasizes, particularly, the 
chairs^ as we feel that these are needed immedi- 
ately and pressingly in all industries. A de- 
tailed description of the chairs will, perhaps, 
prove of most interest. 

What the Museum Does Not Contain. 

The museum contains, as yet, few exhibits, 
though we are expecting more in the near future. 
We are constantly impressed with the fact that 
it contains so few exhibits; this, in spite of the 
fact that we have sent out appeals since 1913, 
that have reached large numbers of people. 

A short time ago we realized that the average 



THE FATIGUE MUSEUM 103 

manufacturer had never thought of his work in 
terms of fatigue. We could, therefore, expect 
no fatigue eliminating devices, as he either had 
none to offer, or as he did not realize what he 
had. Again and again, a manager will say, in 
effect, " I am much interested in your museum, 
and should like to send you something, but we 
have never given much thought to the subject 
of fatigue elimination, and therefore, unfortu- 
nately, we have nothing that we can send.'' In 
many such cases, if we go through the plant, or 
the factory, or the store, we find fatigue elimi- 
nating devices, and immediately say, " There, 
that is just what we want." Whereupon the 
manager replies, " Oh, that. Sure enough it 
does eliminate fatigue. I had never thought of 
it in that light. We have always had that." 
Within the next few days we add a specimen 
to our collection. 

We have, perhaps, not sufficiently emphasized 
the fact that eliminating fatigue means not only 
that we know the things that we lack, but also 
that we appreciate and fully utilize the things 
that we have. It is good practice to use what 
is on hand before laying in new devices. There 



104, FATIGUE STUDY 

is waiting space, then, in the museum for any 
sort of device, old or new, well-known or not 
known at all, that does, or will, or may eliminate 
or overcome fatigue. There is an especially 
warm welcome awaiting any such type of stool 
or chair. The older and more worn it is the 
better, if it is still in working condition. There 
is a chance to be a pioneer by exhibiting cloth- 
ing that is artistic, inexpensive, and appropriate 
for doing any type of work with less fatigue. 

Types of Chairs and Their Uses. 

We are fortunate in that, of the nine chairs 
exhibited, each represents quite a different type. 
This illustrates the large field for chairs. 

Chair No. 1 is designed for work to be done 
standing or sitting. This is the ideal fatigue 
eliminating chair, as it allows of the most scien- 
tific distribution of work and rest periods, and 
for the greatest variation in working periods. 
The work for which this chair was devised was 
the folding of handkerchiefs, work that had al- 
ways been done sitting. This chair is the result 
of accurate measurement, and is of exactly that 
height that will permit the girl's elbows to be 



Fig. 12 

This chair is of type one, devised for doing work that 
has always been considered sitting work, either standing or 
sitting. In this case an ordinary chair has been boosted 
so that a worker can sit at a work-bench made exactly the 
right height for standing work. The chair is provided 
with ball-bearing casters, so that it can be pushed out of 
the way or pulled into position with little effort. This de- 
vice helped make it possible to divide each hour into work 
periods and rest periods ; and at the same time into standing 
and sitting periods, — thus not only eliminating unnecessary 
fatigue, but providing an eflacient means for recovery from 
necessary fatigue. 

Fig. 13 
This chair is of type two, devised for doing work that 
has always been considered standing work, either standing 
or sitting. By its use, heavy filing can be done with greater 
ease and with the same speed and efficiency. The chair is 
inexpensive and easy to construct, and is of such a height 
as best suits the individual worker. 



Fig. 14 

Another view of the chair as shown in Fig. 13. The pro- 
jecting foot-rest on this chair enables a man to push the file 
as efficiently and more comfortably seated than standing. 



1 

1 




i: 



o 

fa 




THE FATIGUE MUSEUM 105 

at the same distance from the work table when 
she is seated as when she is standing. The back 
of the chair, like the backs of all chairs designed 
for eliminating fatigue while working, is de- 
signed for work and not for rest. The chair is 
provided with dome casters, which allow of its 
being pushed away, or drawn back into position 
with the least amount of time and effort possible. 
The worker on this chair has a foot-rest which is 
a part of the working table. 

Chair No. 2 is devised in order that a kind of 
work which has always been done standing may 
be done sitting. The work is heavy filing done 
at a vise, and the chair is provided with a pro- 
jecting foot-rest. The work-bench is of such a 
height that the man may work either standing or 
sitting. In actual practice the filer works half 
of the time sitting, and half of the time standing. 

Chair No. 3 is designed to eliminate vibration 
of floors that carry much high-speed machinery. 
An ordinary chair is provided with springs, that 
relieve the operator of one hundred per cent, of 
the vibration of the floor. This chair was de- 
signed for work at a machine, and the operator 
is provided with a foot-rest, which rests on felt 



106 FATIGUE STUDY 

to kill the vibration. Note also the verandas on 
two sides of the chair for foot-rests. 

The fourth type of chair is also a shock ab- 
sorbing chair, which is more complicated in its 
construction. 

The fifth type of chair is designed for school 
work, and has a rest for the right arm that may 
be lowered or put in place. 

The sixth type of chair is a modification of a 
chair already in use. A chair which was once, 
perhaps, fairly comfortable has become worn off 
from years of use. This is rectified by boring 
holes in four small blocks of wood, and fitting 
them to the legs of the chair, which brings the 
chair back to its originally desired height. A 
well-known Middle West manufacturer used iron 
piping for the same purpose as the four blocks 
of wood. This is, in some cases, easier to se- 
cure, although not so good for the shop fiooring. 

A seventh type of chair is an adjustable, tele- 
scopic stool, which the inventor claims is adapt- 
able to both factory and office work. This is ad- 
mirable in that it allows of the chair being 
adapted to some degree to its user at the expendi- 
ture of little time or money. 



Fig. 15 
A worker using the filer's chair, shown in figures 13 and 14. 



Fig. 16 
This chair is of type three, designed to eliminate fatigue 
from surrounding conditions. An ordinary chair, which was 
fairly useful and comfortable, was provided with springs 
that relieved the operator of 100 per cent, of the vibration 
of the floor. It is to be noted that the device attached 
to the chair is extremely simple and inexpensive, while 
at the same time it solves a problem that has always been 
rated as most difficult. 




Fig. 15 




Fig. u; 



1 



THE FATIGUE MUSEUM 107 

The eighth type of chair is devised for rest 
periods. We have two examples of this. One 
is a small folding stool contributed by a local 
drygoods merchant, much interested in fatigue 
elimination, who, as a result of our fatigue 
eliminating campaign, has installed many of 
these stools in his large store. The other is a 
more complicated chair with adjustable seat and 
back. This is designed not only for causing 
least possible fatigue, but also in the interests of 
correct posture of the user. 

Four of the chairs show particularly what 
can be done with little expenditure of time or 
money. Only the filing chair is a " new '^ chair, 
in the sense of the entire chair having been made 
especially with the idea of fatigue elimination. 
The other three chairs consist of chairs already 
in use, supplied with cheap adjustments, made 
of material already at hand. These may impress 
the reader as extremely inartistic. This they 
undoubtedly are, but these are chairs of the 
transitional period, made to better working con- 
ditions immediately, and to be used until stand- 
ard methods are introduced, and new stand- 
ard fatigue eliminating devices substituted. It 



108 FATIGUE STUDY 

must also be noted that three out of the four 
chairs are provided with what are practically 
footstools, although only one is shown in the pic- 
ture, as only one is attached to the chair itself. 
The fourth chair allows of the feet being placed 
comfortably on the floor. 

Other Fatigue Eliminating Devices. 

The other fatigue eliminating devices exhibited 
are useful more as suggestions than as object les- 
sons. There are various type of packets upon 
which materials are so placed as to be most handy 
to the worker. These packets are filled by un- 
skilled, that is to say, young, or inexperienced, 
learning or unskilled workers in such a way that 
the material can be removed from the packet by 
the high-priced man with the least amount of 
effort possible. Filling the assembly packet is 
an excellent training to the unskilled worker, as 
will be shown later. One of these packets is con- 
tributed by a local manufacturer of cotton cloth. 

The other devices for holding materials in po- 
sition consist of two devices for holding motion 
picture films in position so that they may be 
studied with the least amount of effort possible. 



Pig. 17 
These chairs are of type four, devised to relieve fatigue 
caused by vibration. Besides the chairs, foot-rests were 
devised to hold the feet without any vibration from the 
floor; and, also, special treadles. 



Fig. 18 
This chair is of type six, which modifies a device already 
in use, so that it will become a more efficient device for 
eliminating fatigue. The chair shown was, ordinarily, fairly 
comfortable, but the legs had become worn with time. It 
has, as shown, been raised to that height which is most 
comfortable for the worker. The work-bench, in this case, 
could not be raised so that the work could be done either 
standing or sitting. The problem was to have the sitting 
work done with the least unnecessary fatigue possible. 








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THE FATIGUE MUSEUM 109 

The transportation devices illustrate the prin- 
ciple of gravity, and also the principle of con- 
stant and careful adjustment of the transporta- 
tion to the worker. 

How to Use the Devices. 

The devices of the fatigue museum are useful 
rather as suggesting devices than as object les- 
sons. If your problem is to enable seated work 
to be done standing, raise your work-bench to the 
standing level, and put your work chair on stilts 
with casters, provided the work is not of a kind 
that requires a chair against which one can push. 
If your problem is to enable work that has been 
done standing to be done sitting, construct a 
chair that will bring the worker to the desired 
height. If your problem is to reduce vibration, 
put springs under the four legs of your chair. If 
your problem is simply to make sitting woi^k more 
comfortable, be sure that the chair is of the 
proper height ; that the seat slopes right and has 
a rounded front edge; and that, if it has a back, 
it is one that does not interfere with work. If 
the chair is too high, saw off the legs ; if too low, 
add wooden blocks. Chairs of this type, as actu- 



110 FATIGUE STUDY 

ally used by the workers, will usually offer sug- 
gestions a^ to what needs to be done. 

In many factories one is astounded to find 
books, cardboard, cloth, blocks of wood, almost 
anything heaped in the seat of a chair to make 
the chair higher. Wherever workers are seated 
at a work-bench that is not adjustable, look for 
trouble with the chairs ; that is, a tall girl crouch- 
ing in a kindergarten chair fit only for a child or 
a dwarf, a short girl balanced on a high stool at 
a high table, without a proper place to rest the 
feet. No matter what the height of the table or 
the chairs, if many workers are seated at the 
same table, and the chairs are not adjustable, 
there is field for study. If workers vary much 
as to height, they should be sorted for height, 
and sent to tables with adjustable height legs; 
or, if workers cannot be sorted, the short ones 
should be provided with platforms to bring their 
elbows to the right height to fit the table, which 
should be adjusted to fit the tall workers. If 
your problem is to make standing work more 
comfortable, and a chair seems impracticable 
with the methods used, perhaps a chair or some 
kind of seat could be provided for rest periods. 



THE FATIGUE MUSEUM 111 

Starting Your Own Fatigue Museum. 

We advise every employer to set aside a small 
space and assemble at least one example of each, 
type of fatigue eliminating device actually in use, 
or that may suggest a device to be used. In the 
absence of a regular motion study man assigned 
for the purpose, the ideal state of affairs would 
be to have every member of the management walk 
through the factory once and look at present fa- 
tigue conditions in order to see what improve- 
ments could be made. This, however, is almost 
too Utopian to hope for. 

It is the exception where the worker in any 
large plant knows intimately any part of the 
plant except the few little work places where he 
has toiled. A girl who had worked for years in 
a cotton mill, and who finally went into house- 
hold work, begged to be taken on a visit of in- 
spection to the factory. " But,'^ said the woman 
who was to make the inspection, " I thought you 
worked there. Surely, you must know about the 
factory.'^ " No, indeed," said the girl, " I never 
went anywhere except to get into the room where 
the machine was that I tended." Even in one 



112 FATIGUE STUDY 

excellently managed plant where welfare, or bet- 
terment, is a prime consideration, a girl in the 
office department had never once been out into 
the plant itself. There is an enormous amount 
of educational work, that is also fatigue elimi- 
nating work, to be done in putting each member 
of the organization in touch with the entire work- 
ing plant. There is not time or space, however, 
for an extended discussion of this problem here. 
Therefore, until the workers can be taken to 
see the fatigue eliminating devices in actual 
operation, collect such devices, or photographs 
of them, and put them all in one place. Start 
a little fatigue museum of your own, even if it 
is limited to a properly labelled scrap-book of 
pictures always ready for inspection, and observe 
the effect upon management, workers, and in- 
vention in general. This effect will be reflected 
in the suggestion box, which in itself provides a 
unit of measurement of the progress of the fa- 
tigue eliminating campaign. When fatigue elim- 
ination has progressed to this stage, when actual 
devices are being installed, when the entire or- 
ganization has come, as it will, to think in terms 
of fatigue elimination, the problem may be at- 



THE FATIGUE MUSEUM 118 

tacked scientifically. This, the scientific elimi- 
nation of unnecessary fatigue, is the subject for 
discussion in the next chapters. 

Summary. 

A fatigue museum is a collection of devices for 
eliminating or overcoming fatigue. The parent 
museum in Providence aims to exhibit such de- 
vices as object lessons, and to encourage the 
spread of fatigue study by sending photographs 
with descriptions to all who are interested 
enough to start museums or even a scrap-book 
for pictures of devices for the elimination of un- 
necessary fatigue in the industries. Our fatigue 
museum specializes on chairs, but welcomes de- 
vices of any kind. It advocates the establish- 
ment of similar museums in colleges, or other in- 
stitutions, and also in industrial plants and work 
places of all kinds. 



CHAPTER VII 

fatigue measurement and fatigue elimina- 

nation: how to attack the problem 

scientifically 

History of Fatigue Measurement. 

Accurate fatigue measurement is in its infancy 
as applied to the industries. Such measurement 
can take place only where there is complete co- 
operation between the man measured and the 
man making the measurements. With the co- 
operation, that is the natural result of measured 
functional management, comes the possibility of 
making accurate measurements of fatigue under 
either laboratory or shop conditions. It is as 
easy to pretend to be tired as to pretend to be 
working. There is little or no profit in measur- 
ing pretended states. Under the scientific form 
of management there is no incentive to pretend 
anything. The incentive is, rather, to show ex- 
actly what one is doing and how one feels, in 

114 



FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 115 

order that accurate records may be made, and 
that the offered rewards may be received. We 
have, then, at this stage, where every member of 
the organization realizes that co-operation is nec- 
essary for the good of all, the opportunity to 
measure fatigue with considerable accuracy. 

We have also the means. The psychologists 
and physiologists who have measured fatigue rely 
almost solely upon output as the unit of meas- 
urement. Decrease in output in a comparable 
unit of time, and all other working conditions 
remaining the same, is taken as indicative of 
being the result of fatigue. The observed man 
who is measured may add introspections, he may 
tell how he feels while working and at the close 
of work; but this testimony of his, while inter- 
esting and worthy to be recorded with the other 
data, cannot be submitted to the accurate meas- 
urement of the observer. In applying fatigue 
measurement to the industries in the same way 
that we measure activity and what it produces, 
we try to discover at the same time the condition 
of the worker by his own accounts as to how he 
feels. We have not only conditions under which 
scientific observations can be made aild a method 



116 FATIGUE STUDY 

of making them, we have also devices for meas- 
uring both activity and output and relative rate 
of output. 

Fatigue, a Test of Efficient Activity. 

As for the relation between fatigue and activ- 
ity, practically all of our knowledge of fatigue 
is derived from our knowledge of the activity 
that produces it. We measure the activity itself, 
and its product. We then measure the interval 
of time that elapses before the organism has 
gained enough activity to perform the same work 
in the same amount of time and with the same 
results. A study such as this cannot extend over 
a short space of time only. It must be carried 
on until any fatigue that is accumulated shows 
itself ; but it is simply a question of extending the 
time over which the experiment stretches, and of 
varying the length of rest periods until the de- 
sired information is recorded in the data. As we 
come to compare various activities and their re- 
sults, we find that the fatigue is a measurement 
of the efficiency of the activity. If two methods 
of doing the same piece of work take the same 
amount of time and produce the same amount of 



FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 117 

output, and if the interval needed to recover from 
the second is longer than that needed to recover 
from the first, then, other conditions being equal, 
the first method is the more efficient. A close 
study of the variables that affect the two meth- 
ods will be necessary to show exactly why the 
first method is more efficient than the second, but 
the excess fatigue certainly shows that it is more 
efficient. 

Fatigue can, then, be looked at in two ways : 
!• As a product of doing work. 
2. As a test of efficiency in doing work. 

The amount of work done and the product are 
affected by various elements which affect the ac- 
tivity. 

The Activity. 

The activity is affected by the amount of prac- 
tice that one has had. It is affected by the ex- 
tent to which the action has become a habit. It 
is affected by the degree with which one has got 
into the swing of the work. This may be an in- 
dividual difference. Some workers find it possi- 
ble to start at work at very much the pace that 
they will use when they are well into it. A large 



118 FATIGUE STUDY 

number of our records shows that most workers 
never get into the swing at the beginning of a 
work period. Not only the hour of the workday, 
but the time in the work period will have a strong 
effect upon the amount of work turned out. 
Again we have the question of spurt, when for 
some reason or other the activity is being per- 
formed at a pace that is above the normal pace. 
The effect of all these elements of the activity 
upon the fatigue itself depends upon the relation 
between mental fatigue and bodily fatigue. This 
relationship must be worked out by psychologists 
and physiologists. It is for the observer who 
measures fatigue in the industries to attempt to 
discover, as far as he can, what fatigue exists, 
and why it exists, and then to make both physical 
and mental conditions under which the activity 
is carried on as favorable to eflflcient activity as 
possible. 

Motion Study, Micromotion Study, the Cycle- 
graph, and the Chronocyclegraph Method 
as Measurers of Activity. 

We measure activity in two ways : 

1. By motion study, which records in great 

detail the methods used in doing the work. 



Fig. 19 
This picture shows the examination of the original micro- 
motion films at the motion study laboratory of the New 
England Butt Company. 




Fig. 19 



FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 119 

2. By records of outputs when using the va- 
rious methods. 

Motion study consists of dividing the activity 
into the smallest units possible, measuring the 
variables of these units, studying the data, and 
deducing methods by which the activity may ex- 
press itself more efficiently. Motion study, what- 
ever its type, implies time study, in that the time 
the motion occupies is one test of the efficiency 
of the motion. 

Micromotion study is the name we have given 
to our method of recording motions and their sur- 
rounding conditions by means of a cinemato- 
graph and one of our special clocks which regis- 
ters extremely small intervals of time, smaller 
than the elapsed time between any two pictures 
of the cinematograph film. The micromotion 
method enables us to record easily motions down 
to less than a ten-thousandth of a minute. This 
gives us all the information we could desire for 
purposes of time study, and the record is abso- 
lutely free from the errors in time due to the 
personal element. Although m^ny of the vari- 
ous elements, or units, that comprise the path 
of a complete motion, or cycle of activity, ap- 



UO FATIGUE STUDY 

pear on different pictures in the film, it is diffi- 
cult to visualize or measure the orbit or exact 
path of the motions by means of the film. 

The cyclegraph method permits us to record, 
measure, and see this orbit or exact path of 
a motion or cycle of motions. Small electric 
lights are attached to the hands, or any other 
members of the body inyolved in the motion. A 
photographic plate or film is then exposed while 
the motion is made, with the result that a path 
of light, which resembles a white wire, is seen 
upon the developed plate, representing the path 
of the motion. The effect is best gained by a 
stereoscopic photograph, which shows this path 
in three dimensions. 

The chronocyclegraph method enables us not 
only to see the path of the motion, but also its 
directions, and the duration of the entire motion 
and of its elements. These chronocyclegraphs 
are made by attaching lights to the moving parts 
of the body, or machine, as in the cyclegraph, 
and by introducing a properly timed, pulsating 
interrupter in the circuit, which may be adjusted 
not only to record the time and duration, but 
also to record these with different graphs, repre- 



^ 



Fig. 20 
This picture shows a lamp attached to the hand for the 
purpose of taking cyclegraphs or chronocyclegraphs of mo- 
tions in connection with obtaining motions of least fatigue. 



Fig. 21 

This picture shows an experiment that was carried on 
by us some time ago for determining the laws pertaining to 
the times and fatigue of motions of different lengths. 

The operation studied is that of moving a seven pound 
weight. The times are divided into three parts : Length of 
time from starting to picking up weight; length of time 
from picking up weight to depositing; and length of time 
of recovery to standing position from depositing. The ex- 
periment proved that the time of motions of different 
lengths is practically the same unless those of the same 
length are consecutively repeated. The quantity of work 
that can be done in a day is, of course, much less with 
long motions than with short ones, due to extra time 
needed to overcome the fatigue of the long motions. 



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FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 121 

senting the paths of each of several motions made 
by various parts of the body and their exact dis- 
tances, exact times, relative times, exact speeds, 
relative speeds, and directions. 

By means of the "penetrating screen,'' it 
is possible to pass a cross-sectioned plane in 
any direction through any desired plane, or 
through any number of planes in the cubic space 
under observation. This makes it possible to re- 
cord the data with great accuracy in three dimen- 
sions, and to read the information from the data 
easily. 

These various types of motion study supple- 
ment rather than supplant one another. Motion 
study is primarily for the purpose of observing 
the variables that affect such study, and for 
arousing such co-operation between observed and 
observer, as will make possible the testing of the 
differences of the effects of the variables. Micro- 
motion study provides for an accurate record of 
what happened, with all such attending circum- 
stances as appeal to the eye. It is the greatest 
aid in transference of skill and experience from 
a worker who has it to one who does not possess 
such skill and experience. The cyclegraph is 



122 FATIGUE STUDY 

useful in providing a simple, easily understood 
record of the path that any activity followed. 
The chronocyclegraph is most valuable when the 
activity is complicated, and when the time and 
direction of the elements of the motion must be 
visualized continuously in order to analyze, meas- 
ure, synthesize, and standardize the process. 
The penetrating screen, finally, is useful in re- 
cording the three dimensional paths and speeds 
of even the smallest unit of activity. 

These methods of applying motion study have 
been patented, but have been for years freely at 
the disposal of the colleges, which have begun to 
use them as means for recording accurately scien- 
tific data of various kinds. They have justified 
themselves as more accurate than ordinary rec- 
ords of activity, and have within recent times 
been put on a basis which makes their cost com- 
pare favourably with less accurate methods of 
measurement. What is more, we have discov- 
ered in our data, especially in the chronocycle- 
graphs, direct records of fatigue, that we believe 
are the first records of fatigue ever made under 
industrial conditions. The micromotion films 
also show breaks in well established habits of 



Fig. 22 
Typical chronocyclegraph of the motion and fatigue study 
of a bricklayer, laying three brick in the old method. 



Fig. 23 
Typical cyclegraph of motion and fatigue study on a drill 
press, showing cyclegraph of path of motions of the left 
hand. 



Fig. 24 

Typical chronocyclegraph of compositor setting type by 
hand. 



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Fig. 24 



FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 12S 

several motions that are undoubtedly due to fa- 
tigue, but the irregularities in the orbit line, that 
appear in the cyclegraphs, and that must, be- 
cause of close control of the variables, be due to 
the fatigue alone, are more impressive from the 
physiological viewpoint. 

Testing the Work by Motions Required. 

It is for motion study to explain the methods 
of deducing standard methods by using activity 
records obtained through the various types of mo- 
tion study data. Many such standards have been 
derived. We have in our motion study data 
many elementary motions with records of the 
space they cover and the amount of time they re- 
quire. With these we can test the given work 
to see which of these motions it includes. Hav- 
ing tabulated this, we can make an intensive 
study of the motions that remain. When this 
study has been made, we can combine the result- 
ing elementary motions that have proven them- 
selves most efficient into the working method, and 
classify the work as work of a type requiring a 
certain set combination of motions. 



124 FATIGUE STUDY 

Testing Workers by Motion Capabilities. 

In the same way we may test a worker by mo- 
tion learning capabilities, before assigning him 
to any kind of work. Having reduced activities 
to their motions, we can test the worker's physi- 
cal capability; his mental capability we can test 
by determining his learning curve. To these re- 
sults we add a record of his interest in various 
types of work. From the resulting three types 
of records, we can make placements that, we be- 
lieve, are far in advance of any that have been 
made up to the present time. 

The Use of Activity Records as Data for Elimi- 
nating Fatigue. 

The fact that activity records are made of ex- 
tremely small elements moving through a short 
path in a small amount of time means that the 
fatigue records cover the same short periods. 
This is a great help in making fatigue study. A 
new combination of elements of activity will also 
mean a combination of concurrent, or included, 
elements of fatigue. The combination may have 
some effect on the activity. If so, it will also af- 
fect the fatigue, but at the present state of the 



FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 125 

art the most accurate and satisfying work can be 
done by making use of activity records to elimi- 
nate unnecessary fatigue, without waiting for 
some hypothetical, direct records of fatigue, that 
may be worked out in the future. In other 
words, if you have accurate records of fatigue 
included in your activity records, use these im- 
mediately, without attempting to make separate 
records of the fatigue, that, while valuable, will 
mean delaying fatigue elimination, perhaps in- 
definitely. 

The Time Element. 

Too much credit can never be given to Dr. 
Taylor for his emphasis on the laws of the time 
element. He was the first to call to our attention 
the fact that operations should be divided into the 
smallest possible, timable units for setting tasks. 
In this way it is possible for timed elements to 
be used in many combinations, thus eliminating 
an enormous amount of unnecessary work. Dr. 
Taylor also recommended that work periods 
should be timed separately from the rest periods. 
Our new measuring devices for time study make 
it possible to record much shorter intervals of 



126 FATIGUE STUDY 

time than were heretofore known, and now the 
limiting factor in the problem is no longer the 
quickness with which we can use a stop-watch. 

Our methods and devices have been criticised 
as being specially adapted to prpblems involving 
the minutia of motions, but too expensive for the 
general time study purposes. A moment^s con- 
sideration will show that the turning of the crank 
of the cinematograph may be done as slowly as 
the requirements of the particular case of time 
study demand. In fact we have films that were 
taken at the rate of one picture every ten min- 
utes. With the sixteen pictures to the foot, a 
foot will last one hundred and sixty minutes, or 
two hours and forty minutes, at a total maximum 
cost of six cents. If desired, the speed of the 
crank can be instantly changed to any desired 
speed to enable one to take pictures too quickly 
to be seen with the eye, and more accurately than 
the highest-priced time study man can take by 
means of a stop-watch. 

Our methods, devices, and records of activity 
and of output fulfil every requirement, and are 
now perfectly satisfactory. Fatigue still re- 
mains the elusive factor. Nothing but long-con- 



FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 127 

tinued observation, absolute accuracy and co-op- 
eration between all interested will reduce fatigue 
study to the science wbich motion study has be- 
come. 

The Standardization of Work and Rest. 

Meantime, in standardizing work and rest pe- 
riods, it is customary and proper to make a 
larger allowance for fatigue than the records 
show to be necessary. We cite as an example a 
case of folding handkerchiefs. The old method 
of folding was to have the workers seated at low 
tables in chairs of ordinary height, working 
throughout the entire day, with the only rest 
periods an hour at noon and such ceasing from 
folding as took place when the workers went for 
supplies, or took back finished product to be 
checked, or other rest periods that they took at 
will, as the work was piece work. After an in- 
tensive study of the problem, made not only to 
increase their output but to better their work- 
ing conditions and allow them to earn more 
money with less fatigue, the following schedule 
of work and rest periods was adopted. 

Each hour was divided into ten periods. The 



128 FATIGUE STUDY 

work was placed on a work table of the proper 
height. The handkerchiefs already folded, 
those being folded, and those to be folded were 
arranged in the most convenient and efficient 
manner. All variables of the work had been 
studied, and the results of the study standard- 
ized. The first four periods, that is, the first 
twenty -four minutes, the girl remained seated. 
She worked five minutes and rested one; again 
worked five minutes and rested one. That is 
to say, she had four minutes' rest out of the 
twenty-four, and spent this rest seated so that 
she might lose no time in getting back to 
the work. The next two periods, that is for 
twelve minutes, the girl was standing. Again 
she worked five minutes and rested one minute, 
and for the second time worked five minutes and 
rested one minute. That is, she rested two out 
of the twelve minutes in the same position in 
which she worked. The third group, a space of 
eighteen minutes, she spent either sitting or 
standing, as she pleased. Here also she worked 
five minutes, rested one minute; worked five min^ 
utes, rested one minute; worked five minutes, and 
rested one minute in the position, either standing 






FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 129 

or sitting, which she herself had chosen. The 
last period, which consisted also of six minutes, 
was spent by the girl walking about and talking, 
or amusing herself as she otherwise chose. With 
this might be combined the last rest minute or 
period No. 9, which thus gave her seven consecu- 
tive minutes for unrestricted rest activity. 
* This was the schedule for all hours of the day 
except the hour before noon and the hour before 
closing time at night. In these hours the first 
nine periods resembled the first nine periods of 
the other hours ; but the tenth period was spent 
In work, as a long rest period was to follow. 

At the end of the day's work under these con- 
ditions the girls accomplished more than three 
times the amount of their previous best work, 
with a greater amount of interest and with no 
more fatigue. It may be stated here that the 
primary aim in this investigation was not to elim- 
inate fatigue, but to increase the wages of the 
girls by raising the output. The operators had 
not seemed overfatigued at the start. They 
maintained that they were less tired at the close 
of the day when using the new method, and cer- 
tainly the amount of fatigue caused by producing 



"ISO FATIGUE STUDY 

an amount of output such as was made under 
the old method was reduced to an enormous ex- 
tent. With further practice these preliminary- 
results will be further improved. 

It is of fundamental importance in making an 
investigation of this type that the allowance for 
fatigue be greater than the physical condition of 
the worker at the end of the day seems to indi- 
cate necessary. It is also fundamental that the 
results of the investigation be at once incorpo- 
rated into actual shop practice. If each member 
of the organization is at once placed under such 
working conditions that he can enjoy the rest 
periods along with the high pay that comes from 
a large product, he will co-operate most fully in 
the progressive work of fatigue elimination. It 
is a fundamental rule of scientific management 
that the rate once set must never be cut. It 
should also be a fundamental principle of our 
management that rest periods once established 
should not be abolished or shortened. Let the 
error, if error there is, always result to the ad- 
vantage of the worker, never to that of the em- 
ployer. If you have not allowed enough rest, 
make the allowance larger, then reinvestigate. 



FATIGUE MEASUREMENT 131 

If you have allowed too much rest, let the job 
stand as one to be given for special merit, and 
attack some other problem. The result will be 
an increased co-operation which will more than 
compensate for the occasional over allowance for 
fatigue. 

Summary. 

Fatigue measurement, as applied to the indus- 
tries, is a new science. It is being developed 
through a study of the data of activity. The 
methods of measurement of activity are motion 
study, micromotion study, the cyclegraph, the 
chronocyclegraph, and the penetrating screen. 
Through the data derived by these, we standard- 
ize motion paths, motion habits, and all other 
motion variables. These enable us to test and 
classify, select and place, both work and workers, 
and to eliminate unnecessary fatigue. Through 
the time element we compare our various data, 
and finally arrive at results that enable us to 
standardize work and rest periods. Any errors 
in length of rest periods must result to the ad- 
vantage of the worker. 



CHAPTER yill 

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS: HOW PRESENT PRAC- 
TICE IS DEVELOPED INTO STANDARD 
PRACTICE 

A Concrete Example of Making Adjustments. 

In order to make plain exactly how changes 
are made and take place from the condition be- 
fore analysis, measurement, and synthesis are 
made to the standard method of doing the work, 
we shall take a concrete example and consider it 
from every phase. This concrete example will 
be the assembly of a braider or machine for man- 
ufacturing braid, which is a standard product of 
the New England Butt Company. With the co- 
operation of Mr. John G. Aldrich, who has since 
become president of the company, the problem of 
assembling a braider was studied, both in the 
laboratory and in the shop. 

It is not generally recognized that ultimate 
standards can best be derived in the research 
room and laboratory. The standard practice in 

132 



MAKING ADJUSTMENTS 133 

the plant will be the result of the laboratory prac- 
tice. If the finer measurements are made in the 
shop during the general working operations, 
much time will be lost, as shop conditions cannot 
be controlled as laboratory conditions can. It 
has been said that laboratory experimentation is 
not directly available in shop practice, because 
laboratory conditions differ from shop condi- 
tions. They certainly do differ, but so do the 
ultimate shop conditions that must be introduced 
with the new standard method. The ultimate 
conditions in the shop are far nearer the labora- 
tory conditions than are the shop conditions 
prior to installation of the new methods. 

Former Method of Assembly. 

The method of assembly in use before the mo- 
tion study and fatigue study were applied was as 
follows : The base of the braider was placed on 
an ordinary low bench, and the various parts 
were kept in tote boxes or on the floor. The 
worker selected such parts as he wished, and put 
the braider together according to any traditional 
method that he had learned, together with such 
changes as his whims dictated. 



134 FATIGUE STUDY 

How the New Practice was Derived. 

All of the previous assembly methods had been 
determined by the usual practice of putting 
braider parts together. In the present case the 
braider was taken apart ; that is, handled in the 
reverse order of assembly, in order to determine 
from a new viewpoint the best method of putting 
the various parts together. The parts were laid 
out on a table in the sequence in which they were 
disassembled. This allowed the various mem- 
bers of the braider divisions, groups, and sub- 
groups to be studied in relation to one another 
and also separately. 

The Two Factors to Be Considered. 

The problem resolved itself into two parts : 

1. To make the table of the most convenient 
height and shape to hold tools and the 
base group as it grew, while being assem- 
bled. 

2. To provide the most convenient, tempo- 
rary, resting place for the tools and the 
various parts, before they were carried to 
the final position of assembly. 

The two parts were so closely related that any 



Fig. 25 
Easel for simplifying motions and reducing fatigue from 
work of assembly. The obvious sequence in our packet 
method eliminates the delay and fatigue of the decision of 
choice. 



Fig. 26 
The rigging on a typical Gilbreth packet, as used for the 
assembly of braiders and cord machines at the New Eng- 
land Butt Company. This picture shows only the support- 
ing devices. The length of the supporting devices is de- 
termined by what is to be held upon them. The right 
quantity of each kind, therefore, can be put on without 
counting. These devices are standardized and are but few 
in number. They are specially designed and arranged for 
picking up parts with both hands, simultaneously, in an 
obvious sequence with shortest motions and least fatigue. 








fa 



MAKING ADJUSTMENTS 



135 



modification in one demanded a modification in 
the other. 

Outline of the Changes to Be Made. 

It became apparent, as the work progressed, 
that the determining elements were (1) to 
shorten, as far as possible, the distance for trans- 
porting the arms and hands while loaded; (2) to 
arrange the parts so that their sequence of use 
would be obvious; (3) to position each piece so 
that it could be grasped, transported, and re- 
leased in the shortest time with the least expendi- 
ture of effort and with the least resulting fatigue. 
This meant that the parts should be arranged on 
some sort of a holder, or packet, that would 
shorten the transporting distance, and that the 
base group should be placed upon a table that 
would carry it as near this packet as possible. 



The Solution of the Problem. 

A packet, which was practically a table with 
its top extending vertically, was placed near the 
table supporting the base group, and removable 
wire rods of the right length were placed in it to 
support the various pieces in the best position for 



136 FATIGUE STUDY 

grasping. This also considered the shortest dis- 
tance for transporting the arms and hands, 
whether empty or loaded. These table packets 
were then modified, following closely the princi- 
ples of the design of the brick packet, especially 
the hand-hole feature for firm grasping with one 
motion and for quick counting of the number of 
pieces. The packets now consist of strips of 
wood two inches apart, horizontally, and two 
inches apart, vertically, with holes for pins^ in- 
terchangeable wire rods, forked hooks, and other 
hangers, including interchangeable platforms, 
shelves, and vertical supports, extended and posi- 
tioned for still shorter reach, and holding in turn 
such devices as pins to permit the best position 
for handful grasping without disturbing the mo- 
tions of the hand or the wrist from the natural 
position, or, that is, the position most resembling 
that of normal rest. 

The right position for grasping anything with 
least fatigue is that position that will permit 
grasping without turning, twisting, or holding 
the wrist at all from its natural resting position, 
that is, with muscles in natural balance. It is 
but natural that this should be the best way, for 



MAKING ADJUSTMENTS 137 

it cuts out the positioning motions of the hand 
prior to grasping. 

Two reasons that the strips of wood were made 
two inches apart, horizontally, and two inches 
apart, vertically, were: 

1. Because we desired to get standard data 
at the same time comparable with our 
other standard data. We might also use 
it for checking, by means of motions in 
another trade, the underlying laws of mo- 
tions, which we had already deduced in 
several other trades. 

2. Because we desired to have the motions in 
very nearly the same places every time, in 
order to get the extra efficiency and the 
lesser fatigue that come from the habit 
that is formed in this reaching and grasp- 
ing. 

Many of these laws have since been re-checked 
and used in methods of least waste for the trans- 
ference of skill from one trade to another. 
Habits have been formed that permit a much 
greater amount of output with less fatigue. 

This latticed packet gives us the same dimen- 
sions as our cross-sectioned background. We use 



138 FATIGUE STUDY 

four inches in our American work, and ten centi- 
metres in our European work for these distances 
— the difference between ten centimetres and 
four inches being almost exactly one-sixteenth of 
an, inch, or so small a difference as to be practi- 
cally negligible in work on motion study. 

This cross-sectioned packet has, therefore, not 
only many mechanical benefits, such as forming 
supports, either horizontally or vertically for 
hangers, but it is also cheap to build, light in 
weight, and forms an excellent, relative scale for 
measurement and for " recording the surround- 
ing conditions " of a case of micromotion study. 

In fatigue study, as in all other work of inves- 
tigation, it is difficult to obtain assistants who 
can '' observe what they can see." Of those ob- 
servers who observe what they can see, few will 
wTite down what they observe. Of those rare 
ones who can observe and will always write down, 
few have the habit of maintaining the standard 
conditions in a long series of observations. We 
therefore cross-section the background, make our 
devices, when possible, multiples of four inches, 
and record the conditions by means of photogra- 



I 



Figs. 27 and 28 

This picture shows the arrangement of parts for the base 
group of the braider. It will be noticed that there are 
three adjustable shelves, two vertical and one horizontal, 
for the support in a more convenient position of certain 
parts that have to be picked up, for least fatigue, by hand- 
fuls at a time. The various kinds of shelves, clamps, and 
tables for different sizes or kinds of machines can be re- 
moved or attached to the packet with one motion of the 
hand. 

Note that the top plate is in position and that the 
tools are at the right side of this top plate before the as- 
sembler is sent to the job at all. These parts are arranged 
in an obvious sequence, and a photograph similar to this 
is given to the boy whose duty it is to arrange these parts. 




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MAKING ADJUSTMENTS 1S9 

phy, that gives us the key to causes of deviation 
from class results. 

The modification of the table consisted of mak- 
ing it of such a design that it could be turned 
over on its side to form a low table for tall or 
double-deck braiders, that would permit motions 
of less fatigue. 

Final Adjustment. 

In its final form the method consisted of hav- 
ing the parts of the braider placed on the packet 
by an unskilled laborer or boy, putting large tacks 
on the floor, which located the table at the most 
convenient point possible in relation to the 
packet, which was made fast to the wall or of 
easel type, on casters, as the position where it 
must stand demanded. In addition, a small 
gravity, Johnson-Littlefield packet was attached 
to the table. This conveyed certain parts, by 
their own weight, to a yet more convenient posi- 
tion.^ 

iThe Johnson-Littlefield packet is a splendid example of 
the types of fatigue saving devices that are suggested by 
employees after they have been taught the underlying prin- 
ciples of motion study. 



140 FATIGUE STUDY 

Changes in Type of Work Demanded. 

Through this adjustment the assembler used 
only his most skilled motions in doing his work. 
Meantime, the less skilled worker, or appren- 
tice, who was loading the packet, was learning 
the assembly principle, and receiving an appren- 
ticeship in assembly itself. 

Change in Mental Attitude. 

The effect of the adjustment was to establish 
easily and quickly a new set of efficient habits. 
The parts being arranged on the packet in an 
obvious sequence, and the tools being arranged on 
the table in the standard position, the worker 
necessarily performed the work according to the 
standard method, which was the quickest and 
least fatiguing method, every time that he did it. 
The result improved his working method, and 
acted as an incentive to him to do the largest 
quantity of work of the best quality that could 
be done with a reasonable amount of fatigue. 

Value of This Example. 

This example is even more valuable as a 
method of attack in the adjustment problem than 



Fig. 29 

This picture shows a Littlefield-Johnson carrier packet. 
In this carrier packet the carriers by their own weight 
travel downward to a standard position at the bottom for 
grasping without looking at them, as fast as they are in- 
dividually removed. This packet was invented by two men 
in the New England Butt Company, after they had seen 
our method of attack, and had begun to think of their work 
in the terms of elementary and least fatiguing motions. . 



Fig. 30 
This picture shows a Gilbreth packet and a Gilbreth 
bench, arranged with the carrier packet shown in Fig. 31 
for the assembly of a 13-strand braider. 





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MAKING ADJUSTMENTS 141 

it is as a specific illustration of a successful and 
rapid installation. The workers enjoyed the 
changes and accepted them in the best spirit of 
co-operation. Before using the method, eighteen 
braider base groups had been a large day's work, 
per man. With the new method, sixty-six, per 
man, per day, were assembled with no added fa- 
tigue. The resulting saving pleased every one 
concerned, and has assured the maintenance of 
the method. Like all other methods, old or new^, 
it must be submitted to certain definite tests. 
These it has passed with credit. The outlining 
of such tests is our next problem. 

Summary. 

The problem of adjustment and its solution can 
best be illustrated by a concrete example. This 
is of changes made in assembling the base group 
of a braider. This example is valuable not only 
as an incidence of successful application, but as 
an outline of an efficient working method. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE OUTCOME: HOW FAR HAVE WE ATTAINED 
OUR AIM? 

The Tests of General Health. 

We will now assume that the reader has at- 
tacked the fatigue problem in his particular 
plantj and has applied either preliminary or more 
permanent fatigue elimination. There are vari- 
ous general measurement tests which he may 
apply to the results, in order to see how much 
better the working condition of his organization 
actually is than it was when he started in upon 
his fatigue-eliminating work. 

The first of these is the test of general health. 
It is, of course, perfectly possible that an indi- 
vidual worker's general health may go down un- 
der far better working conditions; this, because 
of some home influence, or something in his gen- 
eral condition or his life away from work, which 
pulls down his liealth. It would not be fair to 
blame the work for any illness easily traceable to 

142 



THE OUTCOME 



148 



home conditions, to an epidemic prevalent, or to 
some certain outside source; but, if conditions 
away from work have remained fixed, there is 
every reason to expect that general health should 
improve with fatigue elimination. This we find 
in actual practice is the case. Even where fa- 
tigue is not materially cut down during working 
hours, because measurement shows that the 
worker is not getting over-fatigued, the general 
health is apt to improve because of greater regu- 
larity in habits of work, and because of better 
physical and mental habits, while doing the 
work. The path along this line is a continu- 
ous, never-ending, upward spiral. Fatigue is 
eliminated by establishing proper habits. 
Proper habits improve health. The improved 
health allows of more work with less fatigue, etc. 



The Test of Prolonged Activity. 

In order to be thoroughly satisfactory, obser- 
vations of the effect of the changes upon the 
worker must be made during a long period. The 
worker's greatest asset is his ability to work. 
In order to prove its value, fatigue eliminating 
work must actually show results in prolonging 



144^ FATIGUE STUDY 

the years that he is able to devote to his life 
work. This in practice it does. Not only does 
the average worker remain physically able to 
work more years than where no fatigue elimina- 
tion has taken place, but also through the fa- 
tigue study and motion study, which he has co- 
operated to make, he learns to be able to teach 
that thing, or those things, at which he is most 
skilled, and thus to prolong his years of economic 
value. You must note how many of your work- 
ers are beyond the usual working age, and are 
still at work. Some of these will be working at 
the work itself; that is, in the performing de- 
partment. Others will be planning or teaching 
the work in some way. The number of these and 
their condition will form an admirable unit of 
measurement of the success of your work. 

The Test of Posture. 

The third test is that of posture. Take an- 
other walk through your plant, and look at those 
workers to whom fatigue elimination work has 
been applied, and note how they are sitting, or 
standing, or walking. 

The American Posture League, with headquar- 



Fig. 31 

B. Micromotion of workman reaching with both hands 
for pieces of a machine which is being assembled. The 
microchronometer in the foreground registers divisions of 
time to the half a thousandth of a minute, and therefore 
gives us much data relating to time study, motion study, and 
fatigue study. 

Set of experiments in fatigue study for proving that 
times of motions have little close relation to lengths of 
motions unless the same length of motion is repeated con- 
secutively many times. (See Fig. 21.) 

C. Penetrating screen in the plane of the motions for the 
purpose of registering exactly the distance of motions in 
fatigue study experiments. 



THE OUTCOME 145 

ters at 30 Church Street, New York City, will 
gladly furnish standards for proper posture in 
various positions. It will be impossible, of 
course, to eradicate wrong habits of posture in a 
short time, no matter how radical the change may 
be, but you should note improvements. At least 
each worker should be so placed that he could 
work in the proper posture if he chose, and so 
that the proper posture will be the easiest for 
him. If the chairs, benches, levers, or devices 
force him to assume the proper posture, so much 
the better. Consideration of the devices shows, 
unfortunately, that few are designed for oper- 
ation with least fatigue ; more being designed to 
use the least quantity of material. 

In the case of young workers, especially, it is 
surprising how quickly the proper devices will 
induce the correct posture, especially if the bet- 
terment staff co-operate to explain the correct 
posture, and its effect upon health. Where no 
betterment staff exists, the posters of the Pos- 
ture League will serve as desirable examples and 
object lessons. Here again, as in so many other 
places, " fashion of work '^ is a most important 
element. Let correct posture become the fash- 



146 FATIGUE STUDY 

ion, and let the devices make the posture possible, 
and astonishing results will follow. 

It is, of course, always a great aid to make 
anything that one desires the easiest thing to do. 
The proper chairs and work places make correct 
posture the easiest posture to hold. This is a 
great force towards maintaining it. 

The Test of Behaviour and Implied Mental Atti- 
tude. 

The fourth test is to observe the behaviour of 
the workers. Do their actions, their resulting 
work, and whole attitude towards the work indi- 
cate that the fatigue eliminating work has been 
effective? There should be better "habits of 
work" than have ever existed before. More 
work should be turned over to the habit processes, 
and the formation and maintenance of good 
habits should become a part of the day's work. 
It should be noted just exactly what seems to be 
the kind and amount of incentive that keeps the 
workers at the work. If the fatigue elimination 
has done what it should along its line, the reason 
for doing the work as it is being done will be the 
belief that this way is the best way yet found, a 



THE OUTCOME 147 

belief that one is safe in following the method, 
since proper allowance for fatigue has been made. 
There should also be present a desire to con- 
tribute to the welfare of all by looking for easy 
ways, as well as scientifically-derived ways, to 
eliminate fatigue, while at the same time follow- 
ing the best method as yet available. 

The question of motivation is one demanding 
understanding and serious consideration in every 
field of activity to-day. This is true in educa- 
tion. It is also true in the industries. The mo- 
tive of getting all that one can for one's work 
must always exist, and is a perfectly justifiable 
motive, but the fatigue-eliminating work cannot 
be considered successfully, unless this motive of 
self interest has also with it the motive of interest 
in the welfare of others, and in cutting out all 
fatigue that can effect any member of the group 
in any way. This feeling should express itself 
in a social attitude, which is another behaviour 
test. If every member of the organization stands 
ready to endorse the fatigue elimination, and to 
co-operate in further fatigue elimination for the 
good of all, the social attitude shows that the 
work that has been done is worth while. 



148 FATIGUE STUDY 

The Test of Transference of Skill. 

The amount of skill that is successfully trans- 
ferred may be used as a test of fatigue elimina- 
tion. Each member of the organization is sup- 
posed to transfer skill, and also to acquire skill. 
He transfers to others the skill in the lines of 
work in which he is proficient, yet which are not 
the highest types of work that he can do. He 
learns from others such types of work as are of 
the highest type that it is possible for him to 
learn, that he has never had an opportunity to 
learn because of the time taken by work requir- 
ing less skill, that it was necessary under the old 
plan for him to do. 

It is a fallacy to suppose that work which does 
not demand all the skill at one's disposal is less 
fatiguing than work which does. Work is not 
less fatiguing because it demands less skill. It 
is less fatiguing when it is done with ease and 
when there is a joy of achievement requiring 
skill; that is, when it is satisfying. Because of 
lack of opportunity, one may only perform with 
ease the work which does not demand much skill. 
As soon as he learns to perform the skilled work 
with ease, it causes even less fatigue, other things 



THE OUTCOME 14d 

being equal, than does unskilled work, because it 
holds the interest, hence the attention, more 
easily. 

We enjoy doing that which we can do well. 
Whether we improve in the doing because we take 
pleasure in doing it, or simply because the pleas- 
ure makes us do more, and we improve with the 
practice, is not of great importance. Psycholo- 
gists are divided in their opinions as to the eflfect 
of pleasure upon work, but all agree that, directly 
or indirectly, pleasure in the work does affect the 
work favourably. Through the transference of 
skill this pleasure is given to the work, or in- 
creased in the work, and, therefore, the amount 
of skill transferred is a test of fatigue elimina- 
tion. 

Test of "Happiness Minutes," Individual and 
Social. 

The final test of fatigue elimination, as of 
every other change made in doing things, is its in- 
fluence upon the total output of "Happiness 
Minutes.'' The aim of life is happiness, no mat- 
ter how we differ as to what true happiness 
means. Fatigue elimination, starting as it does 



150 FATIGUE STUDY 

from a desire to conserve human life and to elimi- 
nate enormous waste, must increase " Happiness 
Minutes/' no matter what else it does, or it has 
failed in its fundamental aim. Have you reason 
to believe that your workers are really happier 
because of the work that you have done on fa- 
tigue study? Do they look happier, and say they 
are happier? Then your fatigue eliminating 
work has been worth while in the highest sense 
of the term, no matter what the financial out- 
come. Naturally the savings that accrue must 
benefit every one, but saving lies at the root of 
fatigue elimination, and, if every member of the 
organization, including the manager and the 
stockholders, is getting more " Happiness Min- 
utes," you surely are working along the right 
lines. 

Social "Happiness Minutes'' will consist of 
the sum of the individual " Happiness Minutes '' 
plus that intangible thing called " social spirit.'' 
It is exemplified in a case like this : A certain 
group of workers had been studied from the mo- 
tion study and the fatigue standpoint. The re- 
sult of the work had been incorporated in their 
daily practice, and they had been working for a 



Figs. 32 and 33 
These pictures are of meetings of the Foreman's Club at 
the New England Butt Co. examining films of methods of 
least fatigue, proposed for standardization. 



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THE OUTCOME 151 

period of many months under the readjusted 
working conditions and with the new methods. 
At the end of this time they were gathered at a 
foremen's meeting, where a micromotion film, 
showing the development of the methods which 
they used, was presented. In discussing the film 
the speaker took the occasion to say that on ob- 
serving the work in the plant he felt that some 
lapses from the method prescribed were in exist- 
ence. The next morning, when he walked 
through the plant, he was stopped by a worker, 
who said, " See here ! I don't believe we are 
falling away from that method a bit. If we are, 
just show us where, and we will go straight 
back to it. We want to play the game right.'' 
This is the test of the outcome. Is the organiza- 
tion lined up as one man back of the work? If 
so, the problem of maintenance and of automatic 
improvement is solved. 

Summary. 

At any stage in the process of fatigue elimina- 
tion the results may be tested. The general 
health of the worker, his prolonged activity, his 
posture, his behaviour act as such tests. To 



152 FATIGUE STUDY 

these may be added the amount of skill trans- 
ferred and being transferred, and the effect, in 
particular, on ^' Happiness Minutes/^ If the or- 
ganization endorses the work and co-operates in 
it, the work may be rated successful. 



■ 



CHAPTEE X 

THE future: what each one of us can do 

The Work o£ the Colleges. 

It should be the work of the colleges to gather 
together what has been done in fatigue elimina- 
tion, and to put it at the disposal of all inter- 
ested. Each college should start a fatigue mu- 
seum, and should invite its graduates first, and 
all those in its vicinity second, to co-operate and 
to send exhibits or pictures of exhibits to its mu- 
seum. The colleges are recognized as not inter- 
ested in any particular industry, as fair and 
impartial, and as standing for uplift in the com- 
munity. It is, therefore, their duty to act as 
repositories for the data, at least until such times 
as the national government takes over the lead- 
ership in the entire fatigue question, and becomes 
the custodian of the data. 

The colleges can help in a second way by mak- 
ing fatigue study a subject in the curriculum. 

153 



154 FATIGUE STUDY 

It is not necessary that this be a new subject. It 
should rather be a new aspect in which the old 
subjects are presented. Especially in the col- 
leges of engineering and business administration 
great emphasis should be laid upon fatigue study, 
both the theory and the practice. It is not essen- 
tial that the students be sent out into the shops 
for actual practice in such study, although any- 
thing like the half-time plan is to be commended. 
The student may well apply fatigue study to his 
own activities. This will present an admirable 
field and a splendid incentive. After such a 
study the fatigue problem will never again seem 
remote or vague to the student. Also the stu- 
dent may w^ell be sent, or taken, on tours of in- 
spection through neighbouring industries, or may 
be allowed to co-operate in preliminary fatigue 
surveys. They should learn the general princi- 
ple of fatigue study, and should become finger- 
wise. This preparation is identical to that for 
making motion study, and, in fact, is prerequisite 
or first step for greatest success in any mana- 
gerial work. 

But the college should not confine its activity 
in fatigue elimination to the museum, and to 



■ 



THE FUTURE 155 

training the student who expects to enter the 
field. They should themselves become examples 
of successful fatigue elimination. In this way 
they can do most to cut down waste, and to train 
our young people to take an active part later in 
the waste elimination campaign being waged in 
the world's work. 

The Work of the Manager. 

The fatigue study and the installation which 
must follow it to be done by the manager have 
been outlined in this book. The manager who 
has put his own plant at such a stage of improve- 
ment that unnecessary fatigue is cut out to a 
great extent, and that recovery from necessary 
fatigue is provided for, has contributed greatly 
to the cause, but his work should not end here. 
He should educate those with whom he comes in 
contact on the subject of fatigue elimination. 
He should co-operate with those in his own neigh- 
bourhood, and also with those in his own trade 
towards solving the fatigue problem peculiar to 
the locality or the trade. 

The Home Eeading Box has been successfully 
installed by a group of manufacturers engaged in 



156 FATIGUE STUDY 

the same trade. This particular work furnishes 
an admirable starting point, and is a great help 
in arousing local interest. If even a few inter- 
ested in the same trade in various parts of the 
country will co-operate, it will soon be possible, 
through trade journals, and through a general 
demand for equipment designed from the fatigue 
standpoint, to revolutionize fatigue conditions in 
that industry. Editors and writers of papers of 
all types have been quick to see the benefits of 
fatigue elimination, and to offer to co-operate in 
a campaign for education. Manufacturers have 
been equally eager to satisfy any demands which 
may be made. The managers can have a large 
share in making such demands, and in encourag- 
ing the support of publications in which they are 
interested. 

The Work of the Worker. 

The w^orker has two chief ways in which he 
can help in fatigue elimination. The first is to 
co-operate with the management in installing fa- 
tigue elimination methods and devices in the 
particular plant in which they are both inter- 
ested. The second is to help to make fatigue 



THE FUTURE 157 

elimination fashionable. This latter duty lies 
with no one but the worker himself. No new 
methods spread more quickly than the " fashion 
of work." There is nothing of which a well run 
plant is more proud than the " way " it works, 
the work spirit. The whole idea must be that it 
is a disgrace to have causes of unnecessary fa- 
tigue existing. Overfatigue is a positive proof 
of inefficiency. There is no fear but that the 
workers will recognize these duties, and will per- 
form them heartily and with good will, when they 
know that they are getting a square deal. It is 
right that they should make very sure that they 
are going to receive such treatment, and that fa- 
tigue study is not a new scheme for taking ad- 
vantage of them, but they must be ready to listen 
to the proof and to accept it when they are con- 
vinced that it is true. Having accepted it, and 
thus made sure that they are safe in co-operating, 
the next step is to help actively in the good work. 

The Work of the Public. 

The great work of the public is to demand fa- 
tigue elimination. The adoption of a few simple 
slogans, like " Buy of the seated worker,'^ would 



158 FATIGUE STUDY 

help bring immediate results in fatigue elimina- 
tion. Consider what the Consumers' League 
has done in securing better working conditions. 
Note how the '' Safety First '^ movement has 
spread through the whole country. The " Fa- 
tigue Eliminating Movement '' can spread in the 
same way, if only every one will do his part to 
demand that the fatigue be reduced and to help 
in the actual reduction. 

The workers of the country have long recog- 
nized the need for fatigue elimination; the em- 
ployers are coming to a realization that they are 
paying a large price for fatigue. Many employ- 
ers have resolved that, so far as their plants are 
concerned, needless fatigue must be eliminated. 
They have resolved that the day is coming when 
every worker shall go home from work happy in 
what he has done, with the least amount of un- 
necessary fatigue, and prepared to go back in per- 
fect condition on the morrow. How soon this 
much desired time will arrive depends upon the 
co-operation of the public, upon the public senti- 
ment that can be aroused. 

There is no reader of this book who does not 
belong to at least two groups that should be in- 



W49 



THE FUTURE 159 

terested in fatigue elimination. Decide at once, 
then, in whicli group you belong, and set to work. 
Be you teacher, manager, worker, or simply a 
member of the great public to which we all be- 
long, begin to work for fatigue elimination, and 
begin now. 

The good in your life consists of the quantity 
of " Happiness Minutes '' that you have created 
or caused. Increase your own record by elimi- 
nating unnecessary fatigue of the workers. 



THE END 




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